Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Red Clover Lemonade

























A trip to the farmer's market this week had me discovering a new interesting ingredient - red clover! This little basket of buds came with a recipe so I decided to give it a try today.

The night before I squeezed the lemons and boiled up the buds as instructed on the little recipe note. It was extremely easy to put together and the only tip I can add is to strain the clover tea using a paper towel (scotties sponge pockets are great as they don't break down easily - line a sheet inside a strainer)

This is going to help remove any tiny bugs, and there was quite a variety in these blossoms, and they went right through the sieve the first time around.

The taste is very good, and you can read up on all the health benefits of red clover and maybe give it a try :)

Disclaimer: Clover like many herbs is not safe in all situations, please read up on it first and from what I read already if you're pregnant do not use it.










16 comments:

Reem said...

Interesting.... It sure look delicious and very pretty..

Amy said...

I have never tried red clover before. looks beautiful and sounds delicious. What a refreshing drink for the summer. Let me see if I can find them in my farmer's market too. :) Thanks for sharing.

Amy

LindaG said...

I did not know you could do this.

Would LOVE to have a farmer's market like yours nearby. Thanks for sharing this with us.

ela said...

Fantastic! i use red clover since several years but had never the idea to make Limonade! The pics are awesome:-) greatings from switzerland
ela (fb ela's kräuterkorb)

Anonymous said...

Pinterest is about to get you many hits!

sterling said...

your pictures are beautiful! i wish i had a farmers market like that in my area...

Anonymous said...

Can one substitute with dried red clover buds? Would it be the same amounts needed? Will be doing research but if any one knows feel free to answer please

cindi said...

I've made red clover infusions using the dried flowers before. :) I didn't get the same, pretty pink colour, but it would still be good for you. I don't remember the amounts offhand but, yes, I would think the amounts would be different for dried vs. fresh, though that part shouldn't be hard to find online. Good luck and let us know how it turns out? :)

brenda said...

you said the clover buds were full of bugs,bugs??


Amatullah said...

Brenda, yes there were little bugs in there which is why I took the extra step of straining everything thoroughly.

Anonymous said...

I've never tried it in tea, but when I was growing up it was a favorite treat of mine. I would go outside and pop the purple tops off and suck the sweetness out.

Anonymous said...

In my country, in the balkons, we dry the buds in the sun, and use it durring winter, for tea, with honey and lemon ��

Anonymous said...

This looks good, but why should we strain it.. Can we leave the clover blooms ..they look beautiful

Anonymous said...

STUNNING! your pictures are incredible , totally attracted me to this page!

Sarah said...

Hello Bella!

I love your post and I've been dying to try this delicious looking lemonade, but I've been struggling to get the same results as you!
After I boil the red clover the liquid is not pink like in the photographs but either a light brown (from my first batch) or a yellow brown color (from my second). I wondered if the leaves were what turned it brown so the second time I attempted it i picked off all the leaves from the blooms and also boiled if for a shorter period. It didn't change it much it was still pretty brown just a light yellow brown color. Is there something I am missing? Am I boiling it for too long or is there a step I missed with the blooms?
Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!
I still have the second batch and I mixed it with the honey and it lightened the color a bit to a little bit of a peachy color..but it's still not pink. I'm afraid to taste it at all afraid that it won't taste right.

Best
Sarah

Amatullah said...

Sarah, are your clovers pink? I know there are white ones out there too. To be honest I'm not sure why mine was a light pink, but i think a lot of ice could lighten it and make it look prettier. Perhaps it somehow oxidized? Normally herbs boiled do turn the tea kind of brown so I'm not surprised but I'm kind of trying to remember how mine turned out pink.

If I ever whip up another batch I'll let you know the results. Thank you for trying it though and I hope it tasted good at least :D