Happy July everyone! June was cold up in our neck of the woods, but the temps are in the 80’s now and it finally feels like summer in Colorado. We’ve been busy with lots of home projects, and at the end of the day I love to relax on the deck with a drink and listen to the creek. Since the summer season is shorter in the mountains I want a drink that screams summer, and these Lavender Lemonade Champagne Cocktails are perfection. The fresh taste of lavender combined with the sour taste of lemons is truly delicious… then we add Champagne and we’ve got a winner here!
These cocktails also gave me a chance to break in my new bar cart! Our new kitchen is so small I had nowhere to store my wine or glasses so I jumped when I found this versatile bar cart at a good price. With various remodeling projects happening our house is pretty much torn up, and this cart is one of my few little cute spots right now. I’ve had lots of fun decorating it and when the construction dust gets crazy I can just roll it away to safety. Plus I can push it around and play flight attendant with it and who doesn’t want to do that?
I have a such a lavender obsession, anyone else? I love the taste and the smell, and it’s so refreshing this time of year. The trick to this amazing cocktail is the lavender simple syrup. Finding lavender flower buds may be tricky for some, I always pick mine up in the bulk spice section of Sprouts. If you have trouble finding food grade dried lavender have no worries there’s always Amazon to the rescue!
Having lavender simple syrup on hand in the summer time is a great idea, not just for this cocktail recipe but you can do all sorts of delicious creative things with it. Store simple syrup in the refrigerator for up to 4 weeks, although it’s so delicious I’m not sure how it could last that long! This recipe makes about 1 and 1/2 cups of syrup. The first time making this recipe add about a cup of simple syrup, stir the cocktail and add the additional 1/2 cup syrup if you’d like a sweeter cocktail.
You’ll want to use fresh lemon juice for this recipe. A cup of lemon juice is usually 6-8 lemons. Those with Kitchen Aid mixers consider getting the citrus juicer attachment. That thing has power, in just a few minutes I can get a cup of juice from 6 lemons plus it’s easy to detach and clean. Those juicing by hand you’ll need more like 8 lemons.
When making Champagne cocktails I just go for a cheap Brut, but Cava also works as well. If you prefer a non-alcoholic version add a bottle of sparkling water for a delicious mocktail.
If you would like more of a diluted cocktail similar to actual lemonade consider adding 1/2 cup to 1 cup of water when mixing the ingredients. We like this cocktail as is without water, it has a stronger tangy sweet flavor, comparable to a margarita. Cocktails are subjective and we all like them a bit different it seems, so taste and play with this recipe the first time you make it.
Lavender Lemonade Champagne Cocktails
Ingredients
Ingredients for the cocktail:
- 1- 1 1/2 cups lavender simple syrup recipe below
- 1 cup fresh lemon juice (6-8 lemons)
- 1 bottle of chilled Champagne
- Optional lemons and lavender flowers for garnish
- Optional water if needed to dilute the cocktail – I don’t add any
Ingredients for the lavender simple syrup:
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup water
- 2 tbs dried lavender buds
Instructions
Instructions for the lavender simple syrup:
- Bring water and sugar to a boil, stirring to make sure the sugar is completely dissolved. Add the lavender and boil 30 seconds. Leave the pot on the burner, turn off the heat, cover and steep 25-30 minutes. Cool and refrigerate syrup for up to 4 weeks. Makes about 1 1/2 cups of syrup.
Instructions for the cocktail:
- In a large pitcher mix 1 cup lemon juice with 1 cup simple syrup, stir to combine. Pour half of the chilled champagne into a large pitcher, letting the bubbles settle, add the remaining champagne and stir to combine. Add more simple syrup to taste if necessary and 1/2 cup of water if needed to dilute the cocktail. Pour into glasses, add garnish (if using garnish) and serve immediately.
Enjoy these fresh summery cocktails and have a happy 4th of July!
