Lavender is one of my favourite herbs/plants and I absolutely cannot stop myself from smelling it each time I walk by a some. Not only does it smell heavenly and comes in a beautiful purple colour, it also offers the body many health benefits. Did you know that lavender essential oil is great for reducing stress and anxiety as well as improving sleep? I love putting on my oil diffuser as I go to bed or smelling a lavender plant when I feel stressed. Lavender is also amazing for headaches, healing cuts & burns, and other body pain. If you have not had a chance to use lavender in your life I would greatly suggest it!
Along with its amazing health benefits, lavender is a great addition to recipes – have you ever tried lavender shortbread cookies!? Soooo delicious! As it is summer time and I am trying to stay away from my oven as much as possible, I wanted to create a refreshing summer drink to enjoy. After going to our local lavender farm (more on that below) I was inspired by the beautiful lavender fields and the hot blazing sun! What better solution than to create a crisp, cold lavender lemonade drink! I absolutely love anything with lemon in it and the refreshing taste pairs great with the unique lavender flavour.
Close to my home there is is a local lavender farm called Terre Bleu that I love visiting! They have a variety of different lavender types and grow over 40,000 lavender plants on the farm. The smell alone when you get to the farm keeps me coming back! This year I was able to sneak away for a visit with my friend Kusala from Kukaru Designs. The farm has really expanded over the last few years and continues to do so with the overall popularity of lavender recently. While at the farm we frequented their amazing store and picked up some of their culinary lavender to use while cooking. If I had my way I would have purchased everything in there! They have stunning products featuring lavender including lavender cheese!
Oh and did I mention they have lavender ice cream? Oh my so good! I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!
The day was hot hot hot and I couldn’t wait to come home to recipe test this lavender lemonade drink below. It provides such a refreshing taste for these hot summer days and is filled with great health benefits from the freshly squeezed lemon juice and lavender buds. So simple to put together and can be done ahead of time if serving for a crowd.
JMS TIP: This drink is best served cold therefore make the lavender lemonade ahead of your event and let is cool off in the fridge. The cold temperature is great for the taste and this will also allow the lavender to absorb into the mixture.
I prefer my lemonade to be sweet but not sickly sweet therefore this drink provides a great hit of sugar without being too over powering for the whole beverage. I hope you enjoy this refreshing treat on a summers day! Although I am enjoying every minute of it, I can’t believe how fast the summer is flying by this year!
Share with us your favourite summer refreshing drinks! Comment below and tag JMS in your Instagram photos using #jmsentertaining!
LAVENDER LEMONADE
The perfect refreshing lavender lemonade summer drink!
Ingredients
- 1 cup Lemon Juice (freshly squeezed)
- 1 cup Simple Syrup (instructions below)
- 6 cups Water
- 2 tbls Lavender Buds
Instructions
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Combine all your ingredients in a large pitcher with the exception of the lavender buds and stir.
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Add in your lavender buds on top of the mixture.
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Refrigerate for 2-3 hours to allow mixture to get cold and the lavender to absorb.
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Enjoy!
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JMS TIP - Simple syrup is very easy to make and lasts for about a month in the fridge. Take equal parts sugar and water (ie. 1 cup sugar and 1 cup water) and bring to a boil in a pot while stirring consistently. Once the liquid comes to a boil turn it off and place aside. Transfer to a glass container once cooled and store in fridge for up to a month.
This looks so fantastic and refreshing! Definitely adding it to my recipe box!
Thank you! It’s so good and refreshing during the summer heat 🙂