Pink Rose Cordial

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briankettering

NewBee
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Jun 2, 2005
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Cordial #45 - April 29, 2001
Pink Rose Cordial #3

Ingredients:
Step 1:
1 2/3 cups pink rose petals, the nail removed (about 7-8 roses)
2 1/2 cup 80 proof vodka (Gordon's brand)
1 cup light corn syrup (Karo's brand)

Step 2:
3/4 cup of pink rose petals, nail removed (3 roses)

Step 3:
3/4 cup of pink rose petals, nail removed (3 roses)

Step 4:
3 cups of pink rose petals, nail not removed (14 roses)

Step 5:
1 cup light corn syrup
2/3 cup white sugar
1/4 cup water

Procedure:
Step1:
Lightly rinse the roses to remove dust and insects. Gently pluck the petals from the rose, moving from the outer petals to the inner petals. Try not to rip the petals in half. The 'nail' of each petal is where the petal was attached to the rose. The nail has a bitter taste, so it should be clipped from each petal.

Pack the petals into a clean one-quart glass jar. Push the pteals into the bottom of the jar with a spoon. Add 2 1/2 cup of 80 proof vodka and 1 cup of light corn syrup. This should almost fill the jar. The petals will float to the top of the liquid, so push them down with a spoon. It is important to make sure the petals remain covered by the cordial. Otherwise the petals will turn brown, fall back into the cordial, and impart a foul color and taste. Place a tight lid on the jar and set aside.

Shake the quart jar daily to make sure any roses exposed to the air will be covered again by the cordial.

Step 2:
After 15 days, the color and flavor should be leached out of the petal. Filter out the old petals and replace with a new set pink rose petals, again rinsed lightly and having the nail removed. Try to use the same amount of petals is possible (1 2/3 cup). If only a few roses are available, use them instead.

Again, shake the jar daily to make sure the rose petals are covered with the cordial.

Step 3:
After 10 days, filter out the old petals and replace with a new set pink rose petals, again rinsed lightly and having the nail removed. Shake the jar daily to make sure the rose petals are covered with the cordial.

Step 4:
After four weeks, filter out the old petals and replace with a new set of pink rose petals, against lightly rinsed. This last process of rose petals will use a lot of rose petals (from 14 roses instead of 3) to get one final strong flavor or rose oil. Make sure to shake the cordial daily.

Step 5:
After letting the petals soak for eight weeks, filter the petals out one last time. Add 1 cup of light corn syrup and 1/3 cup of white sugar dissolved in 1/4 cup water as sweetener. Set aside for at least three more months before bottling and drinking.

Notes:
April 29, 2001: My pink rose bush is blooming like mad, so I decided to make another rose cordial.
May 14, 2001: Filtered out the old rose petals and added new ones, though not so many. The cordial has a definate yellow cast and a wonderful rose aroma.
May 24, 2001: Filtered out the old rose petals and added new ones, though not so many. The cordial has a definate brownish-yellow cast and a wonderful rose aroma.
June 23, 2001: The rose petals were definately finished. I filled the quart jar as full as possible with new rose petals and poured in the cordial, which barely fit.
August 19, 2001: Filtered out all of the rose petals. Heated 1 cup of corn syrup and 1/3 cup of white sugar in 1/4 cup of water, stirring until everything is dissolved. I then let it cool to room temperature and then added to the cordial.
February 2, 2002: Bottled a little bit to let people taste. I think I'll get a good reaction.
 
Brian, I am in awe. Now I am on a new mission: to find enough fragrant, unsprayed roses to make this recipe.

A couple of questions: corn syrup is not available here except in a few places that specialize in American products - not where I live. So can I make a plain sugar syrup instead? If so, how much sugar to water would you recommend?

And then, it looks like this recipe produces about 6 cups of cordial; am I correct?

Many thanks, these rose recipes are keepers!

Miriam
 
I am glad that you enjoy the recipe. I hope you have as much fun putting together your batch as much as I did.

The rose flavor is enhanced by a fairly sweet syrup. I suggest starting with a 1-to-1 simple syrup (1 cup of sugar dissolved in 1 cup of water). Then, if you want it sweeter, add 1/2 teaspoon of sugar at a time until you reach the level of sweetness that works best for you.

You can obtain corn sugar at most home brew supply stores, since it is commonly used to prime beer.

The recipe will produce right at 1 quart (or 4 cups) of cordial.

Brian K
 
Excuse my ignorance, but what kind of roses do you use. I have several bushes of Double delight, could they be used?

Ted
 
I wish I knew which species of rose my pink roses were. The roses were well established when I moved into my house 11 years ago. Each bloom can measure six to seven inches across and smell wonderful.

You can use any type of rose to make the cordial. Some roses will provide the color component (like a deep red color from red rose petals) while others provide the taste and fragrance.

Some roses are good for cooking and brewing while many are not. A nice, simple and cheap way of figuring out if your roses will work for a rose cordial or rose mead is to first make a rose syrup. If the rose syrup looks, smells, and tastes good, then anything else made with the roses will look, small, and taste good too.

One important piece of information is to NOT use any rose petals that has been exposed to pesticide.

I generally recommend that you grow the roses yourself AND make sure that no pesticide has been used on the bush or flowers for the past three years.

Brian K
 
Brian,

Here are some of the roses from my garden that fall into the pink category along with the names of each. What you're describing sounds like a first prize pink rose which is the first image. The names of each type are included. Hopefully there'll be a hit on one of them.

This is a First Prize and is moderately fragrant:
http://207.5.69.177/omsoftnet/FirstPrize_2005.jpg

This one is an Arizona and is moderately fragrant:
http://207.5.69.177/omsoftnet/Arizona_2005.jpg

This one is a Tranquility and is very fragrant:
http://207.5.69.177/omsoftnet/Tranquility_2005.jpg

This one is a Double Delight and is highly fragrant:
http://207.5.69.177/omsoftnet/DoubleDelight_2005.jpg

This one is a Gracie Allen and is lightly fragrant:
http://207.5.69.177/omsoftnet/GracieAllen_2005.jpg

This one has nothing to do with being pink, it's just that I have it planted next to my Gracie Allen and it is called George Burns:
http://207.5.69.177/omsoftnet/GeorgeBurns_2005.jpg

Here's a picture of the front part of the rose garden:
http://207.5.69.177/omsoftnet/OskaarzRoses_2005.jpg

Hopefully there was a hit in there somewhere. I also have some nice blue roses (in the left of the rose garden picture) that are very fragrant. I use the red ones for color, the blue ones for fragrance, and the Tranquility, Arizona and Gracie Allens for flavoring.

Cheers,

Oskaar
 
These are pictures of my Double Delight roses. I never use commerial pesticides on them, if there are bugs on my roses, I spray them with a mild soap solution.
The red gets stonger and deeper as the flower matures.
 
Mine are extremely fragrant. You can actually smell them well before you get to the bush itself.

Oskaar
 
They are very fragrant. They almost overpower the lavander bush. Even if I can not use them for brewing, they are beautiful.
Ted