After a long Vermont winter, the arrival of wildflower season is celebration-worthy! Fields of dandelions, grassy meadows dotted with violets and strawberry flowers, abandoned farmsteads and roadsides lush with lilac hedges all beg to be smelled and sampled. How to best enjoy this bounty of edible wildflowers? In a sweet, fizzy wildflower kombucha that tastes like summer!
If you’ve already sampled my Elderflower Kombucha recipe, you know that making a flavored kombucha to rival the expensive store brands is quite easy. You simply jazz up your fermented booch with the addition of whole fruit, juices, flowers, roots, herbs, spices, sweeteners, and/or syrups.
For this Wildflower Kombucha recipe, we will create a wildflower simple syrup that is delicious not only in kombucha, but also in cocktails (and mocktails!), over pancakes, in desserts, and however else you like to use sweetener.
Wildflower Simple Syrup Recipe
Ingredients
1 cup wildflowers (Some ideas: Dandelion flowers, lilac petals, violets, yarrow, rose petals, peonies, bee balm, red clover, elderflower. If you’re new to foraging, please read this post on how to safely enjoy wild edibles and be 100% sure of your identification)
1 cup organic cane sugar
1 cup water
The first step is to create a wildflower simple syrup that will be used in the secondary ferment, using one of the two following methods:
Method One
- Prepare the wildflowers for the simple syrup by letting them rest on a towel for a few minutes to let any bugs crawl out. Remove stems and place flower petals in a mason jar.
- Place the water and sugar into a small pot and gently heat to dissolve the sugar. Pour the sugar syrup over the wildflowers and infuse for several hours.
- Strain the infusion with a wire mesh strainer.
Method Two
- As above, prepare the flowers for the syrup by removing stems, dirt, and insects.
- Place the flowers, sugar, and water into a small pan and gently heat to dissolve sugar. Allow the mixture to come to a simmer for 10-15 minutes.
- Strain with a wire mesh strainer and allow to cool to room temperature
Place the wildflower simple syrup in a small jar and keep in the refrigerator until use.
How to Make Wildflower Kombucha
1) Make a fresh batch of kombucha.
2) Reserve the SCOBY and 1/2 – 1 cup of kombucha and place them in a glass jar to begin a new batch of kombucha.
3) Divide your wildflower simple syrup equally among glass bottles (I like to use flip-top bottles) and then top off the bottle with your kombucha.
4) Either seal the lid and place the bottle in a safe place to ferment further for one to five days (fermentation will happen more quickly in warmer temperatures), or drink immediately.
Important Safety Note: Fermentation will create carbon dioxide, which is what will make your kombucha fizzy. However, the carbon dioxide can also cause your glass jars to explode if the fermentation is left unchecked. Carefully “burp” your bottle each day to check on the level of carbonation, and store in a safe location. A cooler is an option we have used in the past.
5) When your wildflower kombucha has fermented to your liking, store in the refrigerator, and enjoy!
Wildflower Kombucha Recipe
Capture the essence of summer in this sweet and fizzy fermented wildflower kombucha
Ingredients
- 1 cup wildflowers (Some ideas: Dandelion flowers, lilac petals, violets, yarrow, rose petals, peonies, bee balm, red clover, elderflower. As with any wild edibles, be 100% sure of your identification.)
- 1 cup organic cane sugar
- 1 cup water
Instructions
First, create a wildflower simple syrup that will be used in the secondary ferment, using one of the two following methods:
Method One
- Prepare the wildflowers for the simple syrup by letting them rest on a towel for a few minutes to let any bugs crawl out. Remove stems and place flower petals in a mason jar.
- Place the water and sugar into a small pot and gently heat to dissolve the sugar. Pour the sugar syrup over the wildflowers and infuse for several hours.
- Strain the infusion with a wire mesh strainer.
Method Two
- As above, prepare the flowers for the syrup by removing stems, dirt, and insects.
- Place the flowers, sugar, and water into a small pan and gently heat to dissolve sugar. Allow the mixture to come to a simmer for 10-15 minutes.
- Strain with a wire mesh strainer and allow to cool to room temperature
Place the wildflower simple syrup in a small jar and keep in the refrigerator until use.
How to Make Wildflower Kombucha
1) Make a fresh batch of kombucha.
2) Reserve the SCOBY and 1/2 - 1 cup of kombucha and place them in a glass jar to begin a new batch of kombucha.
3) Divide your wildflower simple syrup equally among glass bottles (I like to use flip-top bottles) and then top off the bottle with your kombucha.
4) Either seal the lid and place the bottle in a safe place to ferment further for one to five days (fermentation will happen more quickly in warmer temperatures), or drink immediately.
5) When your wildflower kombucha has fermented to your liking, store in the refrigerator, and enjoy!
Notes
Important Safety Note: Fermentation will create carbon dioxide, which is what will make your kombucha fizzy. However, the carbon dioxide can also cause your glass jars to explode if the fermentation is left unchecked. Carefully “burp” your bottle each day to check on the level of carbonation, and store in a safe location. A cooler is an option we have used in the past.
[…] was also very creative and took the day to experiment with some new recipes. For example, I made dandelion syrup for a batch of kombucha which I didn’t know you could […]