Rose Simple Syrup

Each Spring I become excited when I see my wild roses start to bud.

And with the first few blooms I can’t help but glance at them with pride as they unfurl and send out their full expression for everyone to see. They are deep red-purple in color. I think the appropriate color according to Crayola would be red-violet.

This unfurling usually begins to happen around the third week of March and it continues until the middle of April.

I have heard that with a little more water and rose food I could get them to bloom more often but I have yet to consult with an expert on the matter. I honestly do nothing except trim them every once in a while when they threaten to take over my mailbox.

Since it is now the end of April the blooms are heavy and full with some of the older ones starting to turn brown.

On Saturday morning I was pulling out of my driveway and I looked over at the roses and thought to myself, “there must be some way to capture their beauty and essence.”

I didn’t give it too much thought as I then continued on with my drive to participate in the annual spring botanical conference. The Botanical conference brings some of the most well known doctors and practitioners of herbalism together for three days of education, conversation and fun. We discuss the new and the old…what works and what doesn’t…what the new research says…and how to apply it to real people.

Amazingly although not surprisingly as I become more in tune with how the universe works… time and time again the conversation turned to Roses.

Roses to heal the heart, Roses to help with grief, Roses to help when a woman becomes completely undone in your office, the challenge in accessing organic rose petals because they are a highly sprayed plant…Roses, Roses, Everywhere.

It was while I was sitting in on one of these presentations that my little wish about my roses was answered. It came right in between a discussion of women’s hormones and the menstrual cycle and then out popped a delightful recipe for Rose Simple Syrup. Voila! A beautiful little pearl for me to snatch up and take home with me to capture the beauty and essence of my roses.

Just to let you in on some commonly unknown secrets of roses…The physical design of the rose flower is a vortex. So when you look closely at a rose unfurling it is literally an unwinding of the petals into the classic flower design that we all are familiar with. What is not commonly known is that the inherent design has an ability to cleanse negative energies and emotions just like a broom built in a circular design…And it has an affinity for the heart. If you hold a literal or imagined rose and point it at your heart close your eyes and twirl it, you can literally feel a lightening effect in your heart chakra and you will be able to breathe more deeply. The rose will cleanse those negative emotions and energies and absorb them into it’s vortex. Roses have the ability to lighten the heart and allow more love to flow into and out of the heart area. Dark pigmented roses are extremely high in quercetin and vitamin C. Any tea, extract, or oil of wild rose petals are indicated for helping with grief, loss, and anxiety. Roses come in countless varieties. All are edible but the wild varieties are preferred for use in herbal medicine. Both cultivated and wild roses are used in cooking to make jellies, jams, and garnishes. It’s no wonder that the rose has built a legacy for itself through the centuries as the purest expression of love.

If you have wild roses you may feel inspired to help yourself to this fragrant and delicious syrup.

 

Rose Simple Syrup

1 quart of fresh rose blooms – picked first thing in the early morning with the dew still on the leaves.

1 cup sugar in the raw

2 cups boiling water

In a large glass or ceramic bowl dissolve the raw sugar. When the sugar is completely dissolved add in the fresh dew soaked rose blooms. Press them down in the sugar water until completely coated in the liquid. Place a plate over the top of the bowl to lock in all the volatile oils and let sit for 2 hours. Two hours really is the magic time if you go longer than that your extraction may start to turn a bit bitter as the tannins will start to be extracted from the plant.

This ratio of sugar to water yields a medium body simple syrup. If you prefer a thicker simple syrup then the ratio of sugar to water would be 1:1.

After 2 hours uncover your infusion and pour over a strainer into another glass or ceramic bowl. Your infusion is done. Store in a glass jar with a lid in your fridge.

I poured my finished syrup into shot-glasses and served it to everyone in my family. They all agreed that it was a delicious rose infused treat.

I plan on using it in my office for those days when every patient seems to need a box of tissues and on our pancakes and in salad dressings and when ever I feel a little blue.

I had a lot of roses so I doubled this recipe.

Shelf-Life

Since this is the first time I have done this I really don’t know how long it will safely stay in the fridge. My current estimation is 2 months. Most herb infused simple syrups have a refrigerated shelf-life of 1-5 months.

Note: Do not use metal bowls for this. Glass and ceramic are the best for infusions.

With Gratitude to Mary Bove ND an incredible doctor and herbalist who shared her Rose Simple Syrup Recipe this weekend.

-A Toast to the continued opening of your Heart

With Love, Dr. Purcell