Tayari's Blog: Rose Petal Iced Tea by Gayle Brandeis

Posted by TayariJones on March 28, 2008 11:09 PM
Filed under Cocktails With Writers

Cocktails with Writers was meant to celebrate the start of spring, but now I am using it to coax spring into showing her pretty face. So, in the spirit, here is a lovely non-alcoholic beverage contributed by Gayle Brandeis, the author of the novel, Self Storage. Here's what she says about her recipe:

"The main character of Self Storage is fascinated by her Afghan neighbor, who wears a full burqa. Flan never sees Sodaba's face or has a full conversation with her, but their lives collide and they find human connection."

In honor of Sodaba and all her sisters, here is a cool drink for hot days, fragrant and refreshing:

Rose Petal Iced Tea
Serves 4-6
Ingredients:

  • Petals from 3 pesticide-free roses
  • 1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
  • 5 cups of water
  • 3 bags of green tea
  • sugar to taste
    Directions:
  • Boil 3 cups of water. Add the rose petals and lemon juice, turn off the heat and let steep for 8-10 hours.
  • Strain into a large jug; discard the petals.
  • Boil 2 cups of water. Remove from heat, and add the tea bags.
  • Brew for 5 minutes. Stir in sugar to taste.
  • Cool, then pour into jug with rose water. Add additional sugar if you'd like a sweeter tea.

    Serve well chilled over ice, garnished with extra rose petals (perhaps even candied rose petals), if desired.


    “Walt Whitman couldn’t have asked for a slyer, funnier, savvier envoy than Gayle Brandeis to carry his 'Song of Myself' into our day and age.” —ABBY FRUCHT

    • [divider]

    There are 0 comments on "Rose Petal Iced Tea by Gayle Brandeis". If you'd like to leave a comment, click here to jump down to the comments entry form.

    Your Comments

    You are signed in as (sign out)

    Please keep comments relevant to the topic. Inappropriate and offensive comments may be edited and/or removed without warning. Comments found on this site don't necessarily reflect the views of Tayari Jones.

    (optional)

    (required)