Flower Champagne

If you don't want to use loads of sugar and spend a lot of time sterilising bottles, an easy way to get the most of out some of the many beautiful flowers blossoming in spring and early summer is to make flower 'champagne' or  'wine'.  This slightly alcoholic fizzy drink is made by adding flowers, lemon, and a little sugar to water and leaving it for a few weeks to ferment. The yeasts naturally present in the environment will break down the sugar, converting it into alcohol and carbon dioxide, leaving you with a deliciously refreshing, mildly alcoholic fizzy drink.

I make champagne with elderflowers, rose petals, lavender, linden blossom and sometimes a combination of different flowers. In theory, any edible flowers can be used for champagne. If they smell nice, chances are they'll taste nice too!

The basic method I use is this: