How to make homemade rose water

Homemade rose water – water made from roses. It’s valued in cosmetics, where they call it a magical beauty potion. French pastry chefs use it to prepare desserts. Some people around the world also believe in its healing powers – it’s supposed to help with a sore throat, but there is no evidence to support that claim.

homemade rose water recipe diy
Homemade rose water – for use in cosmetics and culinary arts.

Rose water was never on the list of things that I wanted to try let alone make. I’ve heard about or read about it on an ingredient sticker of a face tonic or a new shower gel that it contains rose water. My sister came across the rose water in a pastry workshop where they’ve enriched it with sugar and add it to desserts.

What is that pink drink?

On a hot spring weekend, my sister and I sat in a small coffee shop in Ljubljana and across from us sat I girl who ordered a pink drink. I was intrigued by the drink so I tried and reed the label on the bottle. It was super popular Fentimans Rose Lemonade.

When I got home that day I googled the famous lemonade and found out that it’s basically lemonade with added rose water. And there it was – my new project: homemade rose lemonade.

I had no problems with acquiring lemons for the lemonade, all that I was missing was rose water. Because my mother grows amazing roses which have the perfect rich pink color, I decided to make my own rose water.

Officially, rose water is a by-product (hydrosol) of rose distillation. Because I don’t (yet) have my own distiller I had to make do with what I had. Below you will find a simple recipe for how to make homemade rose water without the use of distiller. If you have one, please feel free to use it.

I picked an entire basket of roses in my mother’s garden. When I went down the internet spiral of researching the roses and their use I found out that rose petal can be used in cosmetics and in tea-making. So I dried the rest of rose petals and they’re now waiting to be used in my next project.

Hot to make homemade rose water

homemade rose water ingredients recipe procedure
Distilled water and rose petals are all that we need for homemade rose water.
Ingredients:
  • Distilled water
  • A handful of fresh (or dry) rose petals (the best are Damascus roses because they smell the best)
rose water diy homemade fresh recipe at home
A small pot with rose petals.
Procedure:

Fill a small pot with rose petals and distilled water. Make sure that there is just enough water in the pot that all the petals are submersed.

Slowly heat the mixture until it comes to boil. Mix it while it’s boiling. It should boil long enough that the petals lose their color (20-30 min).

Strain the mixture and save the rose water in a clean, sterile glass.

Keep the homemade rose water for up to 6 months in a dark, dry place together with the rest of your canned goods. Once opened, keep it in the fridge and use it as soon as possible.

No Comments

Post a Comment