French Lavender
Lavandula angustifolia
“One pinch is perfume. Two is soap. Respect the line.”
The high, dry fields of Provence
The Monograph
Lavender scented Roman baths, Tudor linens, and roughly four hundred years of soap before anyone thought to drink it — which explains both its charm and its danger. In the kitchen it's a recent immigrant, and like all immigrants it had to prove itself. A whisper in lemonade and it earns its papers entirely.
Floral, herbaceous, faintly sweet with a camphor edge that turns soapy if you push it. The line between elegant and grandmother's-closet is about fifteen minutes of steeping. Set a timer. We mean it.
Counter Notes
How to Pour It
Culinary grade only
Craft-store lavender may be treated. Buy buds labeled for cooking.
Culinary lavender budsSteep fifteen minutes maximum
Past that, the camphor takes over and you're drinking potpourri.
Tea infuserSyrup tames it
In syrup the dose is precise — three-quarters of an ounce flavors a whole glass.
Simple syrup bottlesPour It Into
Where French Lavender Shows Up
The Weekly Pour