Six Ways To Include Edible Flowers In Springtime Cocktails
Florals in spring—groundbreaking. Miranda Priestly has warned against being so cliche, but really is there anything more pleasing and beautiful than aromatic flowers adorning vases and blooming in gardens during springtime? When crafting cocktails too, edible flowers add a similar touch of floral elegance to the drinks and make them thoroughly pleasing especially during spring. This season is the time for all things cheery and merry, including cocktails that are full of vibrant colours and fragrant ingredients that would make you skip around and revel in the joys of fresh blossoms.
Edible flowers are then a wonderful ingredient to add to cocktails during springtime and there are tons of ways in which they can be incorporated into your mixology game. When you next host a party in your garden or patio during spring, complete with very fruity, bright drinks, a refreshing way to put some elegant twists on the cocktails served would be to use edible flowers. But this ingredient has to be used wisely so as to achieve a perfectly balanced mix.
Read on below to know more about some of the ways in which you can include edible flowers in your springtime cocktails:
Choose Colourful Garnishes
When you are looking for edible flowers as garnishes, go for those floral elements that would make your cocktails pop. One such garnish could be nasturtium blooms which have a very bright red hue that introduces a seductive quality into the drink. This garnish has a peppery finish that introduces just a hint of spiciness undercutting some of the sweetness in your flavour-forward concoctions. The blooms go well with gin cocktails whose botanical notes compliment the scented flowers.
Use Floral Liqueurs
Floral liqueurs or certain cordials with floral elements like rose or lavender are highly underrated. However, emerging mixology trends are fast moving towards including a lot more fruity and floral ingredients into modern mixes. This means lavender liqueurs, elderflower liqueurs and rose water have a role to play in giving your cocktails a very luxe and elegant touch. These add a whole new layer of flavour into a drink giving it a very floral quality.
Pairing Spirits And Florals
When you are crafting cocktails with edible flowers, you have to be very clever with your liquors. For instance, when you incorporate roses into cocktails, use them with intense drinks like bourbon. On the other hand, spirits like gin pair well with florals like violet and then there’s a vibrant hibiscus that goes well with tequila. So, the next time you craft a floral-forward spirit, pick out the liquors in a way that their aromas and flavours go well with the scented notes of the floral ingredients.
Check For Toxin Free Flowers
A lot of times, we tend to pick out flowers as garnishes that would look pretty in a glass. But not all of these flowers are edible. Avoid using flowers that grow on tomato or potato plants because they are not for consumption and can end up giving you a stomach bug! And avoid using flowers bought from your local florist because these can contain harmful pesticides. Use florals that are foraged prudently or that you would find in stores with a reliable edible mark to craft your springtime cocktails.
Pick Fresh Flowers
One of the best ways to enjoy spring cocktails is to incorporate fresh ingredients and homemade mixes made from fresh produce into the drink. This also goes for floral elements and other garnishes that would adorn your cocktails in this season. So, when you craft cocktails in spring using floral garnishes, make sure these are fresh flowers, still in bloom. Not only will this elevate the aroma of your cocktails but also introduce a very pleasing and revitalising appearance into the drink.
