Thursday, February 19, 2015

Rosewater DIY + Tijuana Rose Margarita Recipe

After Valentine's Day, my boyfriend and I fell into a rather LARGE concentration of roses.  How large?

Roses Yellow roses
             Roses      My apartment smells the way I think Marilyn Monroe's dressing rooms used to smell🌹🌹🌹

I was very excited to receive that many roses, to be honest. I love them! They're all so beautiful...but what do I do with dozens of roses?  My boyfriend had the grandest idea: make rose simple syrup.  Of course!  I looked up some rose simple syrup recipes and they all started with the same ingredient: rosewater.  It's a lot easier to make than you might think!

Get the steps after the jump


Step 1:
Get all your petals together.  I did 3 separate batches: Pink/Orange/Yellow petals, White petals (because my boyfriend gave me white roses awww), and Pink and Red petals.  How sweet!
The recipe I found called for 6 cups of rose petals (roughly 8-12 roses)

Pink/Orange/Yellow Petals White Petals Pink and red petals

Step 2:
Boil the rose petals for 15 minutes in 1 liter (4 cups) of water.  While each batch boiled, I washed and prepped the next set.  It was really easy and I felt a bit like Jean-Baptiste Grenouille from Perfume: The Story of a Murderer - except less murder-y of course - I felt like the nice part of him that worked on extracting the essence of the rose petals.  It was quite fragrant, although my sense of smell has not quite been the same since my smell blindness.

Pink/Orange/Yellow Petals Pink/Orange/Yellow Petals Pink/Orange/Yellow Petals Boiling
Pink/Orange/Yellow batch

White Petals White Petals White Petals Boiling
White batch

Pink and red petals Pink and red petals boiling Pink and red petals boiling
Pink and red batch

Step 3:
Let the petals cool.  I put them into washed and dried Tupperware containers (lids off) to cool on my counter.  While each batch cooled, I prepped and boiled the next batch (after washing and drying the pot and stirring spoon).

Pink/Orange/Yellow Petals Cooling White Petals Cooling Pink and red petals cooling

Step 4:
After each batch cooled enough, I strained the rosewater through a fine mesh strainer and funneled the liquid into previously used washed and dried liquor bottles.  Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, right?!

Bottle Prep Pink and Red Petals Pink and Red Rosewater
Rosewaters

I put each batch in the fridge to store.  I'm not sure what the shelf life is but I imagine it can't be very long.  Hopefully it's long enough for me to take enough of each flavor to Lauren and Chandler's so they can make some rosewater simple syrups to add to their amazing home bar (next to my Limoncello, of course!).

As for the rest of the roses, well, I think I'll make a batch of yellow petal rosewater, maybe a batch of white and pink petals together and I think I'll gather up some fragrant herbs and things and try this pretty wrapped flowers DIY.  I could put them everywhere or give them out to people or both!  Maybe I'll even bring some to the office...the possibilities are endless!

Will you try to make rosewater?  If so, please let me know how it turns out!

Rose simple syrup Margarita supplies Tijuana Rose margarita

I took my Pink+Red Rosewater and made a simple syrup with it to use in a margarita recipe.  SPOILER ALERT: It was delicious!  My boyfriend calls it the "Tijuana Rose".

Tijuana Rose Margarita
- Put all ingredients in a shaker.  I use the Boston Shaker I got for my birthday last year (thanks Chandler!) but any shaker will do.
- Shake it up with some ice for a few seconds - or until you feel like it's well-mixed.
- Strain into a cocktail glass with fresh ice.
- Enjoy!

Tips: 
- Sometimes I add an extra ounce of tequila if I really want to kick it up a little.
- Same with the Grand Marnier - I might add a full ounce or maybe 3/4oz.
- If you don't have Rose Simple Syrup, any simple syrup will do.
- If you have it on-hand, use Limoncello instead of simple syrup.  It's wonderful!  We call that the "Bellissima".
- If you don't have a shaker, put all the ingredients in a glass and stir it with a straw or butter knife or chopstick or spoon or whatever - just make sure all the ingredients are incorporated.

If you make the margarita above in any variation, let me know!  If you have any cocktail recipe ideas for the Rose Simple Syrup, I'd love to hear them!

I hope you're having a great week!

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