Simplest-Ever Dandelion Flower Wine
For years I’ve heard of Dandelion petal wine as a kidney tonic. Last weekend I finally felt inspired by the abundance of dandelions in our meadow that I thought to make a batch for my home. While harvesting thousands of blossoms is not too laborious, the process of pinching them from their base does take a slow ass minute. The green of the dandelion is very bitter, so a sweet floral wine requires using petals only. This will ferment with the mash for a week or so, after which I’ll strain it and let it ferment till it’s (subjectively) glorious - another few weeks to a half year, noting that it’s flavor profile will sour as it goes.
Pluck the petals from a thousand dandelion blossoms (~2 quarts fresh blossoms, 1.5 quarts wilted, 1 quart plucked from their green base) & set aside.
Place a cup of honey in a room temperature half gallon mason jar (cold jars can crack with hot water).
Mix one cup of honey OR 1.5 cups sugar with a cup of boiling water into it. Slowly mix till the honey/sugar is dissolved. Fill 2/3 full with lukewarm water till it’s around body temperature. Sprinkle in 1/4 teaspoon or so champagne or wine yeast. Let the yeast bloom five or so minutes; you will see it plump and bubble.
Wash and zest a orange and two Meyer lemons. Remove the bitter white rind and slice the flesh. Add zest and flesh to the yeasty sugar water. I’m going to let this go for maybe an hour or so to make sure the yeasts I want get a good head start on the yeasts from the raw dandelion petals.
Add the dandelion petals and stir it all well. Make sure there’s at least two inches between the top of the jar and the mash. Cover it with a towel and tie the towel tight to the top.
Let sit at room temperature, stirring a few times daily. The ferment will be the most wildly active in the first few days, so be ready to stir it more often if need be to keep it from overflowing. Yeast gas will become trapped in the petals, and non-beneficial microbes can proliferate in these bubbles. So, it’s important to make sure to tend it carefully while it’s young.
After a week or so I’ll strain it out and let it keep fermenting at room temperature for another week or so. I’ll crack the top to let out gas every day or two once the bubbling has slowed down. When it stops bubbling, I’ll place the wine in my fridge overnight to make the yeast go dormant and drop to the bottom, helping to clarify the wine swiftly. I then pitch aka slowly pour off the wine into a wine bottle and leave the yeast at the bottom of the jar; this can be reused for starting the next batch or composted.
