A DIY Guide To Make Floral Water For Your Cocktails
Despite how much we enjoy spirits, our favourite liquid is still good ol’ water. But sometimes, water can surely get a little boring. That is when infusing a few ingredients with it can make water taste better while still being as wholesome and hydrating as we know it to be.
The ingredients that we think complement water the best are flower petals. They don’t just add a pleasant floral note, but these flavours are subtle enough for the water to still be as refreshing. What’s more, adding these floral waters to our favourite cocktails really gives delicious results. All of this is to say that if floral waters are not already an indispensable part of your bar, they will be once you are done with this article and have made your first floral water cocktails. Here’s how to do it:
Ingredients
Distilled water
Petals
Food colouring (optional)
Orange/ lemon zest (optional)
Method
1. Pick out your favourite edible flower varieties
The keyword here is “edible”. As long as you confidently know that a particular flower is safe to consume, you are good. Of course, if in doubt, it is better to err on the side of caution and skip that flower. Some of the most popular edible flowers are rose, lavender, lily, hibiscus, and camomile.
2. Extract their petals
Since most of the nectar, and hence most of the flavour, is in the petals, this is the part of the flower we need. Carefully pick out clean and relatively unblemished petals from the flowers. Watch out for bug bites or bugs!
3. Wash the petals
Lightly rinse the petals carefully.
4. Infuse the petals
Combine water and petals into a pan. Heat the water until it starts giving out vapour, but has not started boiling. You can also add orange or lemon zest for a zing of flavour. Let the concoction rest for about 20 minutes.
5. Add colour
Although the water will take on the colour of the petals, you can optionally add food colouring to make the colour more distinct.
6. Strain and store
Strain the concoction into an airtight glass container. You can store the floral water in your fridge for up to a month.
This floral water can be used to make some of our favourite cocktails, like:
Rose Water Gin and Tonic
This cocktail is as simple as the name suggests. Just add some rose water to your classic gin and tonic, and a pretty pink cocktail with notes of rose is ready. For some extra points, you can garnish the cocktail with rose petals. It smells great, too!
Raspberry Rosewater Cocktail
A blast of berries, this cocktail is one of our favourite floral water cocktails. Made with vodka, freshly cut raspberries, pineapple juice, lime juice, and rose water, each distinct note in this drink is a journey in and of itself.
In case you don’t drink, floral waters are still useful. Not only are they great additions to mocktails, and nice to savour by themselves, some — like rose water — can be used in your beautification rituals. Suffice to say, making floral waters of a few different types should be your next order of business!
