Coconut Rose Tea Blend

I don’t drink a lot of tea in the summer. My summer nights are filled with back porch beers or happy hour margaritas outdoors.

When it starts to get cold, however, that all changes. It’s not that I give up on cocktails. But I certainly don’t drink as many outside.

Instead, on cold nights, I find myself curling up on the couch with a hot cup of tea. Often store-bought, but sometimes I make blends myself.

This one is a favorite. I take some loose-leaf black tea — any kind will do as long as it’s not flavored in any way. Then I mix it with some dried rose petals and coconut. Steep and you have a nutty, floral tea that is perfect on a cold night.

If you’ve never cooked or made anything with edible flowers, it’s easy, but there are a few things to know. First, you want to make sure it’s actually edible. Some flowers are toxic when consumed, but roses are not. But, you want to make sure you’re not using flowers that have been treated with pesticides because guess what? As soon as you steep those petals in hot water, all those chemicals are going to leach right into your tea. So just make sure you know what you are buying.

When you buy fresh flowers, you have to dry them out. It’s not difficult (see note at the bottom of the recipe) but it is time-consuming. An easier way to go is to buy pre-dried petals. They’re not terribly expensive, and you know they are dried enough. I’ve done it both ways, and honestly, for this, I would not use anything else.

You can make a big batch or a cup at a time. Making a cup at a time is easy if you have roses ready to go.