lemon tea made like yujacha?

I’m curious and feel kinda dumb for asking this, since I’m a chef… lol.
Since you can’t get yuja in the old land of rain and grey (England lol, not that you can be able to get yuja anywhere but Asia anyway), I wanna know how you make lemon tea in the same way, as Maangchi said she makes it the same way in her yujacha video.
I tried making it. It came out lovely, citrusy and sweet at first sip, but horrendously bitter in the back of my throat.
I tried adding more sugar, some salt, honey (I don’t even like honey), nothing worked.
Maybe my best bet would be to make a new batch and leave the rind out completely? It’s not like lemons are expensive here but I’m a bit short on money, so throwing it out completely seems a big waste.
I used 2 big regular sized lemons and granulated sugar.
Thanks in advance!