Recipe: Lavender Lemonade

I mentioned back in my wedding posts that I served lavender lemonade at my reception. I used lavender as much as possible in the wedding because I LOVE the smell. I thought I would share how to make the lavender lemonade on here, even though it's so easy I almost feel like it's not worth sharing! Hopefully some of you will be inspired to try it :)

I bought a kit on Etsy from a seller who appears to have switched focus to vintage toys (? don't ask me...). I don't think you need a kit AT ALL though. All you need is stuff to make lemonade, some culinary lavender buds (angustifolia is what I used) and patience. The first thing you need to do is soak your buds in a covered container in the fridge for about 10-14 days. Do 1/8 cup buds to a 1/2 gallon of water (cold water is preferable. Using boiling water will expedite the process to less than 10 days).

That's all I took pictures of because I was so busy getting everything done for the wedding! It's been almost 5 months now. Wow does time fly! Ok, that's off topic, so back to the lemonade. Once your buds have soaked, you can start making the lemonade. I would do this a day or two before you plan to serve it, so the flavors have time to mix. Make the lemonade by combining 1/2 gallon of water and 2 cups of sugar (or less if you don't want it overpoweringly sweet). This is where hot water is nice because the sugar will dissolve quickly for you. Once the sugar is dissolved in the water add 1 cup of lemon juice and stir.

Finally, pour the 1/2 gallon of lavender water (with the buds strained out) in with the 1/2 gallon of lemonade and mix well. You'll have a little bit of lemonade left over because you added that cup of lemon juice, just drink it plain or toss it. Refrigerate immediately and drink within 3 weeks. It's delicious!

You can also experiment with your amounts of sugar, lemon juice and lavender to get the perfect taste for you. It's a really fun drink to make, and I promise it will be gone within a couple of days if you're anything like me. I can't get enough of the stuff! Let me know if any of you give it a shot! I hope you're all having a fantastic weekend so far.