Dandelion Flower Wine

Dandelion Flower wine is best made when the dandelion flowers are in full bloom in the spring and fully open on a sunny day. The wine requires acidifying for the yeast so it tends to become a very citrus flavoured wine. For this reason we called this batch the Citrus Bang. We aren’t usually very fond of overly citrus flavours so we may change or ignore this recipe next year or use it as “Filler” wine only (wine we make only when we have made everything else available and have spare drums/demijohns).

Minimum Equipment Requirement

1 Gal Demijohn or Drum/Tub
1 Airlock
1 Siphon Tube

Ingredients for 1 Gallon Dandelion Wine

1.136 Litres of pressed dandelion petals (follow the instructions for how to prepare the petals in our post on dandelion cordial if you are unsure)
340g Raisins
907g Sugar
3 Lemons
3 Oranges
Water as required

Method

Sterilise your equipment
Boil the Petals
Allow petals to steep for a minimum of 2 hours (we did overnight to increase flavour)
Strain the flowers – keep the liquid but not the flowers themselves
Add raisins, Lemon Juice, Orange Juice, sugar and orange/lemon zest to the liquid and place on a low boil for 30 minutes.
Allow to cool.
Mix thoroughly and add to the Primary Fermentation Bucket/Demijohn and top up with water.
Allow the mixture to cool until it reaches around 21C
Add yeast and yeast nutrient
Cover and place airlock
Keep in a warm dry place
After 8 weeks, test the mixture with a hydrometer. Add sugar according to taste if it’s ready to bottle.
Add a crushed Campden tablet to clear according to the tablet instructions and allow to settle
Rack Off up to three times, or less if you don’t mind it cloudy. Top up with water and bottle when finished.

Dandelion and Ginger Cordial

After running out of Dandelion Flower Cordial I decided to adapt the recipe a little to add some extra oomph for my next batch. As such the recipe is very similar.

Due to no preservatives or additional ingredients, this cordial has a high sugar content to prevent it from going bad.
Dandelion flowers can be collected around March to April when the sun is in full swing to ensure the flowers are out and full of goodness.
Can also double as a great hot tea drink to combat colds, enjoy with hot water and a slice of lemon.

Ingredients

100 Dandelion Flower Heads at least – the more the better
1kg Demerara brown sugar estimate
half a lemon
Knob of fresh Ginger Root

Method

Collect at least 100 dandelion flower heads fully opened and trim off the green bases. It’s okay to get a few green bits in with the petals and they usually get in the way.

Give the petals a quick wash/rinse but be careful not to loose all the flavour!

Grate the ginger with a fine tooth grater and squeeze out the ginger juice into a saucepan.

Boil the petals and ginger juice with roughly 1 pint of water and allow to cool and steep overnight in a covered bowl.

Add the juice from a half a lemon and strain out the petals thoroughly.

Weigh the liquid (a bit tricky I know) and for every 1g of liquid you have created add 0.95g of sugar. You can use different sugar types if you prefer but they will affect the flavour, this time I used Demerara Brown sugar for a more caramel flavour.

Stir in the sugar and gently heat until dissolved (do not boil).

Pour contents into bottles and seal.

Dandelion Flower Cordial

This recipe makes a great light flavoured cordial and makes 1-2 bottles. Enjoyed best over a slice of lemon and ice cubes this is a perfect spring and summer drink. The flavour is very mild and sometimes outweighed by the syrupy nature of the cordial so those who have a sweet tooth may really enjoy this one.

Due to no preservatives or additional ingredients, this cordial has a high sugar content to prevent it from going bad.
Dandelion flowers can be collected around March to April when the sun is in full swing to ensure the flowers are out and full of goodness.

Ingredients

100 Dandelion Flower Heads or more
1kg sugar estimate
half a lemon

Method

Collect at least 100 dandelion flower heads fully opened and trim off the green bases. It’s okay to get a few green bits in with the petals and they usually get in the way.

Give the petals a quick wash/rinse but be careful not to loose all the flavour!

Boil the petals with roughly 1 pint of water and allow to cool and steep overnight in a covered bowl.

Add the juice from a half a lemon and strain out the petals thoroughly.

Weigh the liquid (a bit tricky I know) and for every 1g of liquid you have created add 0.95g of sugar. You can use different sugar types if you prefer but they will affect the flavour, for a clean basic flavour use white granulated.

Stir in the sugar and gently heat until dissolved (do not boil).

Pour contents into bottles and seal.

Dandelion Coffee

This coffee can be made all year round, but to get the best size of dandelion roots harvest them around February & March just before they flower.

Ingredients

Dandelion Roots

Method

Scrub the roots to ensure they are clean from soil.

Dry them or oven roast them at a low temperature until brittle to the touch.

Grind up the roots and store in a clean dry jar.

To enjoy this coffee, boil the powder in a saucepan until the water turns dark brown like espresso and you can smell the “coffee”. Then pour into your cup as per normal instant coffee. The great benefit of this coffee substitute is that not only does it taste almost the same as coffee and have a great robust and smooth savoury flavour but it also has zero caffeine in it. If you are looking to cut back on your caffeine this may be the answer for you.

Dandelion and Burdock Root Beer

This was one of our most exciting endeavours last year and tasted very good. It wasn’t as strong as we would have liked but we aim to develop the recipe further this year so stay tuned for the final recipe! Essentially the ingredients are very simple, You boil up some dandelion and Burdock roots and strain them into the drum ready for fermentation. The best thing about this beer is not only that it’s a timeless classic, but also the roots are readily available pretty much everywhere and most people are more than happy for you to do a little helpful weeding for them!