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One of my favorite books is Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury. For me, it is associated with summer, childhood, bright cheerful and sad memories…
It always seemed to me that it was impossible to make such a wine, that it was just an artistic invention of the author. But I always cherished this dream and one day it came true.
This is how one of my new subscribers Marina B began her letter. For me, her recipe was also a discovery, I hope you will like it too.
How did you get the idea to make wine from dandelions?
A few years ago we moved to live in the country and in the first warm months, I was surprised by the wild number of dandelions growing on our site. They were just a sea!
I didn’t raise my hand to mow such beauty, but I realized that if they give seeds, then next year there will be even more of them, but I’m still engaged in cultivating the territory. Need to do something.
We admired this yellow blanket covering the entire area, the children wove wreaths. And I decided to find a useful use for flowers. At first I found a recipe for jam, and later I came across a recipe for dandelion wine in an old cookbook.
So suddenly my dream of making the famous Bradbury wine began to come true. She gave baskets to her children and sent them to collect yellow flowers.
Ingredients for wine and the nuances of collecting dandelions
After reading the recipe in the book, I realized that I could find all the necessary ingredients, they are simple and accessible to everyone:
- Dandelion flowers – 1 l.
- Lemon – 1 pcs.
- Orange – 2 pcs.
- Sugar – 1,5 kg.
- Raisin – 200 g.
- Water – 3 l.
Since I used to make wines with “wild” yeast, I didn’t want to use other starters in this recipe either. Therefore, it is important to collect dandelions correctly.
Firstly, we collect in dry weather, a couple of days before that there should also be no precipitation.
Secondly, we need only yellow open flowers, without insects, we carefully select, sort through.
Thirdly, do not wash anything, otherwise we will kill all the yeast.
After collecting the flowers, you need to sort it out again, remove all insects, bad petals, mashed inflorescences.
Cooking Instructions
It is necessary to start making wine immediately after picking the flowers. If they dry out a little, then the taste, unfortunately, will not be the same. So:
- We put the dandelions in a jar, sprinkling the layers with sugar.
- A jar of sugar and dandelions, cover with gauze and place in a warm place for 2-3 days, so that the flowers give juice. At this stage, you can add a sprig of mint, but this is not for everyone.
- After 3 days, add a glass of water and leave for another week.
- Strain the dandelion infusion through cheesecloth. Squeeze the juice from lemon and oranges into a separate bowl, add unwashed raisins (it will also serve as a source of yeast. We combine strained dandelion infusion with citrus juice and raisins in a three-liter jar.
- We put a glove on the jar and wait until the wine ferments (about 2 months). After a couple of days, the glove will inflate and a proud flag will begin to fly over the bottle.
- After about 2 months, when the glove deflates, the fermentation process will stop. We filter through cheesecloth, pour into bottles, close tightly and leave for six months in a cool place.
What happened as a result
It was a bit scary to try such an exotic wine for the first time. But the taste struck with its freshness, uniqueness and nobility.
Sweet floral aroma, slight sourness of lemon and freshness of oranges. Later, I tried to add mint to this recipe, but, in my opinion, it interrupts the whole taste.
I don’t cook a lot of this wine – there are two cans, so, for special occasions. Because it takes a long time to cook. While the process of infusion, fermentation, aging will pass, Christmas comes. And serving this drink to Peking duck has become our good tradition for this holiday.
Guests are always amazed by the yellow-sunny color of the wine. I really enjoy watching those who taste wine for the first time. I always suggest unraveling the composition. Nobody has guessed yet.
Everyone recognizes oranges, and the floral notes of dandelions are not compared with anything: with honey, and with chamomile, and with “some” berry. I don’t reveal the secret, I’m waiting for someone to guess.
Excessive alcohol consumption is harmful to your health. Take care of yourself!
In general, the preparation of wines from “non-standard” materials, in my opinion, is a very exciting process. And what do you think? We cook nettle soup, sorrel, artichoke pies, many herbs are used as seasonings. Why not give dandelions a new life?