allowed my rosewater to cool and transferred it to a mister bottle. To
avoid spoilage, floral waters are best kept in the refridgerator.
Do you make floral waters? What is your favorite way to use them?
If you’ve ever used rose water or any other form of ‘floral water’ you will understand the excitement I had when I discovered I could make my own using simple kitchen tools, and for much less! I’ve known people whom have made their own {hydrosols}, but never really thought about how “easy” it might actually be –
until now.
So many flowers and herbs can be used to make all kinds of hydrosols! Really the sky is the limit when it comes to any distillate.
“Hydrosols: also known as floral waters, hydroflorates, flower waters or distillates are products from steam distilling plant materials. Hydrosols are like essential oils but in far less of a concentration. When a distiller brews plant material with water in a large cooker the steam fills the pot and, as it rises, it causes the glands of the plants to burst and release the oils and essence of the plant into the steam. The oil rises through a condenser and collects in a separate vessel. This is what we know as essential oil, but what about all that fragrant water that was steamed with the original plant material? That is our hydrosol, or floral water.
Hydrosols are usually the result of essential oil production as a by-product but the highest quality hydrosols come from the devoted distillers who, with artist like precision steam the floral and plant material strictly to produce a hydrosol. Hydrosols contain all of the essence of the plant in every drop, just like essential oils but in a milder form; making them suitable for all manner ofapplications where essential oils would be too strong and need dilution.” – Mountain Rose Herbs
Hydrosols are amazingly refreshing when spritzed straight onto the body, and also many of them have a vast array of culinary uses, as do they have medicinal uses as well! They are a lovely ingredient when added to any body care product too!
To make Rose Water {or any other hydrosol}
You will need:
- A large stock pot {I used a double broiler}
- The stock pot lid, {introverted}
- A glass bowl {heat resistant/oven safe}
- Ice cubes
- Big handfuls of
fresh {pesticide free organic} rose petals, {I easily distilled a quart of rosewater, with 4-5 handfuls of petals.}
Directions:
and bugs from your plant material or you may end up with “spider-dirt infused water” ::wink::
3. With the glass bowl in the center of the pot,
situate rose petals {or your herb or flower of choice.} around the outer rim of the pot. Fill the bottom of your double boiler with water – or if you do not have a double boiler, cover your petals {or other herb or flower} with water. Do not add water to your glass bowl!
over the pot, so it is inverted. Turn on the burner low to medium. {it
is important not to boil.}
5. Place Ice cubes on top of the inverted lid.
whole steaming process takes aproximaetly about 30 minutes.
- Rose water will
last about a week to 10 days if stored in the refrigerator. To help
extend the shelf life of your water add 1tbsp of witch hazel, {which I use.} or either rubbing alcohol, or grain alcohol per 2 cups of water. Doing this can extend the shelf life up to 1-2 months.
-
Placed ice in baggies because
once it melts you can just grab the baggies of water and quickly dump
the water and replace it with more ice. Otherwise, you are lifting the
lid off of your “still” and potentially losing some of your steam, {meaning hydrosol}. -
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