Celebrate the blooming of lavender and beckon the bees with the Lavender Cocktail.
Get out there, Hipcooks, and inhale a bit of nature today. It will do you good. Lavender is prized for its calming effects: it is said to reduce stress and anxiety. Sure, lavender essential oil rubbed on your temples, or as a foot-rub at night may coax a blissful sleep: but how about you get outside and enjoy the real deal? Take yourself on a walk. The odds are high that you’ll find some of these beautiful purple blossoms. Check first for bees, and then run your fingers along the stem and buds, scrunching them as you go. Lift your hands to your nose and take a deep breath. Ahhh. Can you bottle that bliss? You can, Hipcooks, you sure can. Click here for the Lavender simple syrup recipe.
Once you’ve made Lavender Simple Syrup, you’ll dream up excuses to use it. A plop in your coffee for a Lavender Latte. Use it to sweeten homemade lemonade for a lovely twist. And, of course, in cocktails.
This lavender cocktail is not too feminine, even though the lavender simple syrup gives it the rose color of a maiden’s blush. I mix it with plenty of gin and a nice astringent bite of lemon. When you garnish with a Lavender sugar rim and pop in a lavender flower, it makes a great Mother’s Day cocktail, or a delightful drink any time of year.
Ingredients
3 ounces gin (St George's Botanivore is a great match for this cocktail)
1½ ounce lavender simple syrup
½ ounce lemon
garmish: lavender sprig and lavender sugar rimInstructions
Prepare the cocktail glass by running the lemon wedge around the rim of the glass and then dipping it in lavender sugar.
Place the gin, simple syrup and lemon juice into the glass of a Boston cocktail shaker. Fill the glass with ice and shake, shake, shake. Strain into glass and garnish with the lavender flower.
5 comments
That photograph of the lavender martini is so Gorgeous and Inviting!!!! I’m very excited to learn how to make one this coming Saturday!
Thank you Hipcooks for staying connected.
Always!
This sounds so lovely but what can one do if there is nowhere fresh lavender to be found?
Thank you for posing this question, Mama! Indeed, I forget that in Florida you are not as blessed as we are on the West Coast. I recommend purchasing dried lavender flowers (you might find them in the bulk bin at Whole Foods), but here they are on Amazon. I took the liberty of ordering some for you: they’ll be arriving at your house soon — hopefully in time for Cocktails on Saturday. xo Monika