Let’s Make Lavender Lemonade!

How to Make Lavender Lemonade

Lavender Lemonade is so easy to make! You are simply going to add a lavender infusion to your favorite lemonade recipe!

What is a lavender infusion? A lavender infusion is simply a very strong lavender tea.

How to Make An Infusion

Infusion is simply a fancy word for a strong tea. An infusion is prepared by heating the liquid and letting the herbs steep for a least 30 minutes. Longer steeping will produce a stronger infusion, experiment to find out the strength you prefer. After steeping for the desired time, strain the liquid to remove the herbs and then add the liquid to the recipe.

You don’t need a fancy glass teapot in order to make an infusion. A saucepan of boiling water will work also. You can put your herbs in a metal tea infuser, a muslin bags, a piece of cheesecloth or place them loose in the water and then strain when finished steeping.

To make a Lavender Infusion to use in our Lavender Lemonade, you will need 1/4 cup of culinary grade lavender flowers . When cooking with Lavender, it is the buds or tiny flowers that you want to work with, not the stems or leaves.

Add the lavender flowers to 1 cup boiling water and steep for 10 minutes. I would either use a muslin bag to hold the lavender or simple add the loose lavender to the water and then strain after steeping.

More information about infusions can be found here: Herbal Condiments

Lemonade

You will need 2 quarts of lemonade. To be perfectly honest, I use powdered lemonade mix! If you prefer to make it from scratch with lemons or if you like to use frozen concentrate, either way is fine!

I used to serve Lavender Lemonade when I had events at the flower shop. I found the powdered lemonade mix to be the most economical and the quickest when I was serving a crowd!

Add your lavender infusion to your prepared lemonade and chill! Serve over ice. The Lavender Lemonade can be garnished with slices of lemon and sprigs of lavender if desired.

By adding ginger ale or lemon lime soda to a glass 1/2 filled with Lavender Lemonade, you can make Sparkling Lavender Lemonade! Sparkling Lavender Lemonade would be a perfect addition to an outdoor special event!

General Tips When Using Herbs

Dried herbs have a longer shelf life. If you want to make a small batch of herbal tea using fresh herbs, you can adjust the proportions with the following formula: Use twice as much fresh herb as you would dried herbs. For example, if the recipe calls for 2 cups of dried herb you would use 4 cups of fresh herb.

When working with fresh herbs, be sure to bruise the herb leaves by cutting or tearing them. This allows the essential oil of the herb to be released. The essential oil is what give the flavor to the recipe.

A Garden of Tasty Delights – Introduction to Dessert Herbs