Lavender Lemonade
Fresh lemon, a lavender syrup and cold water or soda over ice. A floral lemonade that is a mocktail in its own right, a gin cocktail with one addition, and a summer-party pitcher either way.
Built to the standard modern spec; not yet tested in our kitchen. How we test.
The recipe.
Scaling adjusts quantities only. Prepare shaken drinks in individual portions.
Let’s make a good drink.
Make the lavender syrup ahead: bring equal parts sugar and water to a simmer, take it off the heat, add a tablespoon of dried culinary lavender, steep ten minutes, and strain.
Fill a collins glass with ice.
Add the lemon juice and lavender syrup and stir.
Top with cold soda or still water, stir once, and garnish with a lemon wheel and a sprig.
A thoughtful finish
- Steep the lavender briefly and off the heat. Boiled or over-steeped lavender turns the syrup bitter and soapy.
- Culinary lavender, not the kind sold for sachets, which may be treated.
- An ounce and a half of gin turns it into a Lavender Gin Fizz; a splash of blue curaçao turns it purple and is unnecessary.
Common mistakes
- Too much lavender. The flavour should be a note, not a perfume.
- Bottled lemon juice.
- Serving it warm. It is a long, cold drink.
A few good questions.
Does it taste like soap?
Only if the lavender is overdone. A lightly steeped syrup tastes floral and faintly herbal; use a tablespoon of flowers per cup of syrup and no more.
Can I add alcohol?
Gin is the natural partner, an ounce and a half per glass. Vodka works; so does a dry sparkling wine in place of the soda.
How long does lavender syrup keep?
Two to three weeks in the fridge.
Can I batch it?
Yes — mix lemon and syrup in a pitcher, chill, and add soda to each glass as you serve.
Variations
- Cranberry Rosemary Spritz — Cranberry and rosemary over soda.
- Ginger Lime Spritz — Ginger syrup and lime over soda.
- Tom Collins — Gin, lemon, sugar and soda — the spirited version.
- Arnold Palmer — Iced tea and lemonade.
Where it comes from
c. 2000s · United States and France
Contested. More than one origin is claimed for this drink. We show the competing accounts rather than pick one.
Lavender lemonade is a Provençal farmhouse drink and an American farmers’-market one — a lemonade sweetened with a syrup steeped with dried lavender flowers — and it rose with the herb-syrup mocktails of the 2000s and 2010s, when every café with a garden put one on the board. There is no inventor. The trick is restraint: lavender is a strong flavour that turns soapy in quantity, and the syrup should be steeped briefly and used lightly. With gin it is one of the easiest floral cocktails there is.
Sources
- Julia Bainbridge, Good Drinks, 2020 (book)
- Derek Brown, Mindful Mixology, 2022 (book)
- Difford's Guide, Lavender Lemonade, 2015 (reference)
A little character in every sip.
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