Lilac Cordial

Who thinks of Anne of Green Gables whenever cordial is thought of or mentioned? If you do, you probably have an appreciation for simpler times when life wasn’t so fast paced. Lilac Cordial is a perfectly sweet, cold, and refreshing early summer drink best enjoyed outside in your favourite chair with a good book!

It’s lilac season, so it’s time to make the most of them, because, let’s face it – the season is super short! Sure, you can pile them into vases and set them in every room in your home, but did you know you can also make a deliciously fresh and fragrant drink with them?

Before I go any further, I will point out that making a cordial is easy, but does require a little time. If you’re in a hurry for fast and easy summer drinks, you could save the cordial for later and try my Virgin Mojito or my super delicious Lemonade! Also, I made cordials with berries, fruit, and citrus last year, so click here if you want to make cordials with one of those if you don’t have access to lilacs!

WHAT ARE CORDIALS?

Let’s get right into it! I’ll start by defining a cordial. There are several definitions for the word cordial, one of which is a non-alcoholic fruit drink concentrate. A cordial also refers to a medicine in liquid form that is taken orally. And, lastly, it can also refer to a chocolate that has a liquid filling or center.

Some people have a different name for what I call a cordial. They call is squash. Squash is defined as a non-alcoholic concentrated syrup used in beverage making. It is usually fruit-flavoured, made from fruit juice, water, and sugar or a sugar substitute. Modern squashes may also contain food colouring and additional flavouring. Some traditional squashes contain herbal extracts, most notably elderflower and ginger.

Squash (cordial) is mixed with a certain amount of water or carbonated water before drinking. The amount of water added is to taste, with the squash becoming less strong the more it is diluted.

Citrus fruits, like oranges, limes, or lemons, or a blend of fruits and berries are commonly used as the base of squash. Traditional squashes are most commonly flavoured with ginger or elderflower.

MEMORIES OF CORDIAL

For me, a cordial most certainly is always a refreshing, sweet, homemade drink. A part of my memory tells me that my grandmother used to prepare elderflower cordial, but I can’t confirm it. I seem to recall an elderflower tree in her front yard, but the memory is scattered and broken.

The best memory I have of it is from one of my childhood favourite books. If you’ve read Anne of Green Gables, you might be able to recall her love of raspberry cordial. In chapter 17, when Diana comes for tea, and ends up drinking glasses of what she thought was cordial, but turned out to be currant wine – that was always my favourite part of the book!

You can just imagine how that turned out! Poor Anne; she was trying so hard to act the grown-up and to impress. But, after Diana becomes innocently drunk, Anne is tarnished with being a girl of bad influence.

Now that I’m thinking about it, I wonder if I can get my hands on a copy of the book? Maybe I’ll re-watch the movie with Megan Follows and see it play out on screen instead. Surely, I’ll fix myself a cordial to sip as I watch.

STORING CORDIALS

Once you put in all of that steeping and straining effort, you’ll want your delicious cordial to last as long as it takes you to drink all of it. So, with that said, I highly recommend keeping your storage bottle or jar as clean as possible.

When I say sterilize the jar, I’m not just being overly cautious. The cleaner and more sterile the jar or bottle, the less likely it is that your cordial will spoil. And, keep it in the fridge. Keep it cold and keep it sealed for long-lasting results.

If you’re interested, you can get the exact bottles that I’m using on Amazon. The bottles are quite large, but will hold all of your cordial. I have four of the jars, but that’s only because I wanted to showcase the recipe using different berries and fruits.

INGREDIENTS NEEDED FOR THIS RECIPE

The following is a list of the ingredients needed to prepare this recipe. For exact amounts and measurements, refer to the printable recipe card located near the bottom of this post.

• Lilac Petals – Read the next section on how to collect and clean lilac petals.
• Sugar – There’s a lot of sugar, but keep in mind that cordial is heavily diluted when making a drink, so it won’t be too sweet at all once all is said and done!
• Water
• Blackberries – These are used to give the cordial a deep purple colour. You can leave them out, however your cordial will be a very light pink – almost clear, really!
• Lemon Juice – I usually preach that fresh lemon juice is best, but in this case, I prefer bottled lemon juice, because the strength is more balanced and works best for preserving.

HOW TO MAKE LILAC CORDIAL

Add all of the ingredients, except the lemon juice, to a large saucepan and stir to combine. Bring to a boil over high heat. Once the mixture comes to a boil, continue to boil and stir for 5 minutes. Stir continuously and do not leave the mixture unattended.

Next, turn off the heat, but leave the saucepan on the burner. Allow the mixture to steep and cool for 1 hour. After the hour has passed, pour the mixture through cheesecloth to drain and remove all of the lilac petals and the blackberries, if you used them to deepen the colour.

Stir in the lemon juice. Transfer to a sterile bottle or jar. Keep refrigerated. To use, pour approximately 1/4 cup of the syrup into a large drinking glass. Add ice and pour in 1 1/2 cups of cold water. A slice of lemon is a great addition too! Stir and enjoy.

HOW TO GATHER LILACS

Use pruning sheers to snip clumps of lilacs from your tree. Fill your kitchen sink with cold water and dunk the lilac branches, one at a time. Gently shake the branch under the water and then lift it straight out. Do this several times. Transfer the branch and/or clump to a salad spinner and spin out the excess water. The lilacs may still be a bit damp, but they won’t be impossible to work with. Don’t be tempted to over wash and over spin in the salad spinner. Lilacs are delicate, so treat them as such.

Here are the suggestions that I have followed. These are suggestions that I have read over the past few years from others who have prepared lilacs to eat. First, only use lilac petals from a tree that you know 100% has not been sprayed or treated with chemicals. Secondly, pick petals from trees that are not close to busy streets or highways. Those petals will be dirty with gas and diesel residue.

Please use pruning shears. Don’t break the branches with your hands or saw at them with a knife. This will damage the tree and you will want the tree to stay healthy for years to come. Oh, it’s also best to harvest the lilacs in the morning before it gets too hot. The petals have more moisture content in the morning.

SEPARATING THE PETALS FROM THE STEMS

So, I know that lilacs look gorgeous spilling out of large vases. And, every year, I have at least two large vases filled with them. But, they are great for baking too! Once you have cut and washed your lilacs, now comes to the tedious part. Removing the petals from the stems is certainly not hard work, but it’s tedious! This is how I do it.

With all of my washed lilac bunches in a large bowl, and a smaller bowl for collecting petals close by, I find a nice shady spot on our back deck. Next, I fetch a cold drink and get ready to harvest. Working with one bunch of lilacs at at time, hold the top of the petal and pull. The purplish-pink petal should release from the stem. The idea is to leave behind all traces of green. If you get a few bits of green, it won’t do any harm. But, too much will throw off the taste of your recipe.

This process is long and labourious. To make this recipe, you will need two cups of lilac petals. That doesn’t seem like much, but it takes some time. You should learn from my mistakes too, because the first time I did this, I did not sit in the shade. I ended up getting a sunburn! When all is said and done, the Lilac Cordial is beautifully fragrant and gently sweet.