A beautiful, uplifting & delicately fragranced rose flower tea that is perfect for sipping through the summer -- enjoy warm or iced
Author: kelly
Serves: 3 cups
Ingredients
2 cups gently packed rose petals (organic/non-sprayed, gathered from a trusted garden/grower)
3 cups near boiling water
Optional: drizzle of honey
For Storage: jar with covered lid
Instructions
Gather roses from a trusted garden (you can absolutely use roses that are on their way out -- they tend to be sweeter/more fragrant anyway);
Snip the roses, discarding the stems and placing the flower portions in a bowl;
As you lift the roses out of the bowl, turn them upside down (I do this over the sink) and give them a gentle shake (you can also tap/flick them with your finger) to remove any debris (dust/soil) or little garden friends (there are always hitchhikers in a natural garden :). I don't over-sanitize but if you prefer, you can gently rinse the petals with water - keep in mind though that this may remove some of the fragranced oils -- they'll go down the drain instead of into your tea.
Place the blooms on a work surface, remove the petals and gather enough for 2 cups gently packed.
Pre-warm a tea pot by filling with hot or boiling water and letting it sit for 5 minutes.
Drain the tea pot and then place the 2 cups of petals inside.
Pour 3 cups of boiling water (near boiling ideally) over the petals in the pot.
Place the lid on the pot and let the petals steep for 20-30 minutes.
Sample a taste of the tea (using a tea strainer as required) at 20 minutes - be sure to smell the tea before sipping, so beautiful! - and then decide whether to let it sit for another 10 minutes or so.
Add a splash of honey if you like (or other preferred sweetener) -- I find the taste of the rose so unique and lovely, I like it just as it is.
For iced version - I recommend first cooling the tea in the fridge (more on this below) - when ready to enjoy, simply pour over a couple cubes of ice in individual glass/cup and enjoy straight away (I don't recommend letting this particular tea sit on ice in fridge or at room temp - the ice will melt and dilute the rose flavor/aroma - best to pour over ice when you're ready for sipping).
Your rose tea will last up to 4 days in the fridge -- once steeped and cooled, pour the tea into a jar and cover with lid (I use a mason jar) and store in fridge. In the depth of summer heat/humidity, I don't recommend leaving the tea out at room temp for more than a few hours; it's best to store in the fridge. If you like, you can always reheat it to enjoy warm.
Recipe by Inspired Edibles at https://www.inspirededibles.ca/2021/06/rose-petal-tea-warm-or-iced.html