Whether to garnish drinks or bar food, there is a raft of edible flowers available to the bartender
Edible flowers – beautiful, artistic, aromatic and the perfect garnish for the geezer who strolled into your cocktail bar and gruffly ordered a strong drink.
Flowers in drinks are not new by a long way – god knows there are more drinks with violas out there right now than there are in the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra – but, hopefully, this pictorial bouquet will open your eyes to some new, lesser-known specimens.
Photos of sweet cicely flowers have owners so it’s time for a plug: these are all available from the good people of Herbsunlimited.co.uk, who can deliver to your door. Keep them cool 4C to 8C – they’re as delicate as flowers.
Cornflower
Blue, white and pink. Tastes of spices and cloves.
Chive flowers
Delicate onion flavour.
Tagetes flowers
Deep orange/red and yellow. Strong flavour. Pull apart petals and scatter into a drink.
Violas flowers
Small and pretty with a wide range of colours.
Nasturtium
Deep orange and yellow. Spicy and suitable for stronger flavoured drinks.
Begonias
Small pink/red flowers. Tastes of lemon.
Hyssop flowers
Bright blue and very aniseedy.
Sweet cicely flowers
Delicate flavours. Aniseed taste and fragrance.
Marigold flowers
Deep rich orange. Pull apart petals and scatter into a drink.
Dianthus
Shades of deep pink and white. Pull apart petals and scatter into a drink.
Garlic chive flowers
Small white stars. Garlic-flavoured so good in a Bloody Mary.
Fennel flowers
Small yellow flowers on a large head. Bursting with aniseed flavour.
Bean flower
Mild bean flavour. Pretty scattered into a drink.
Borage
A small, beautiful blue flower. Works well in an ice cube.