This Blueberry Lavender Lemonade recipe is the perfect refreshing summer drink! It's a non-alcoholic mocktail, so it's great for the whole family (and it's easy to add some vodka if you prefer). The mix of lemon with floral lavender and blueberries is so delicious, and it ends up being such a pretty pink color too!
This is a great summertime drink, but it's also a tasty option for Valentine's Da. It's the perfect drink to serve at a baby shower too!
Looking for some more mocktails to try? This Ginger Beer Blueberry mocktail is another tasty blueberry and citrus drink. The Coconut Lime mocktail is great if you're going for something more tropical, or this Non-Alcoholic Sangria is perfect for any wine lovers who are avoiding alcohol.
Making the Lavender Syrup
It's super easy to make lavender simple syrup at home! Check out my full post on how to make it here: Lavender Syrup Recipe.
All you need to do is mix a cup of water with a cup of sugar, plus some dried lavender, in a saucepan. Bring it to a boil to dissolve the sugar, and then turn down the heat and let it simmer for 3 to 5 minutes.
Take the saucepan off the heat and let it cool to room temperature (usually 30 minutes to an hour). Then, strain out the lavender. You can use it right away, or store the finished syrup in the fridge for around 2 weeks.
You can also buy lavender flavored syrup (I love this lavender syrup by Collins). Keep in mind that a lot of store bought lavender syrup will have purple food coloring added.
Ingredients
Here are the ingredients you'll need for this drink:
- Blueberries - these sweet and sometimes tart berries bring a great flavor and also some color to the drink. Muddling fresh blueberries in your cocktail shaker is a great way to get out all the juices.
- Lemon juice - freshly squeezed for the best flavor.
- Lavender simple syrup - this syrup adds a floral sweetness without overpowering the other flavors. You can use homemade lavender syrup, or store bought.
- Water - go for bottled or filtered water.
- Optional garnishes - fresh blueberries, lemon slice, and a dried or fresh lavender sprig all bring flavor and color to the drink experience.
Substitutions
Here are some ways you can substitute the ingredients in this cocktail:
- Blueberries - if you don't have fresh blueberries, use blueberry jam instead. This will give you lots of flavor, although slightly different because the jam is cooked. It'll be a little sweeter, too, so you can use a little more lemon juice or less syrup.
- Lemon - you can try using lime instead of lemon. Or, you can use 1 ounce of water mixed with 1 teaspoon (4 packets) of True Lemon powder.
- Lavender syrup - you can use agave nectar or maple syrup if you don't have lavender syrup. If you do, you can use a few drops of lavender bitters to get some lavender flavor into the drink, or use lavender tea instead of the water.
- Water - sub in soda water if you want to add some bubbles.
Variations
Here are some variations on this recipe:
- Keto Friendly Blueberry Lavender Lemonade - it's easy to make this into a keto-friendly drink if you're using homemade syrup. Just sub in allulose instead of regular sugar when you make the Lavender Syrup. If you want to use a pre-made syrup, try this tasty Blueberry Lavender syrup by Jordan's Skinny Syrups.
- Hard Blueberry Lavender Lemonade - To make this recipe into a cocktail, just add your favorite vodka, citrus vodka or gin instead of the water.
- Mojito style - add a few mint leaves in with the blueberries while you muddle, and then garnish with some more mint leaves.
- Strawberry version - Switch out some or all of the blueberries for fresh strawberries.
Equipment
Here are a few tools you'll want to have on hand to make this drink:
- Cocktail shaker and strainer
- Jigger to measure the liquid
- Optional fine mesh strainer to make sure you keep all the blueberry skins out
- Muddler to mash up the blueberries
- Cocktail serving glass (I use a Collins cocktail glass)
- Knife and cutting board if you are using a fresh lemon.
If you're looking for some bar equipment, I really love the products from A Bar Above! You can get 10% off using my discount code, LKDrinks. Their bar tools are really durable, and also can be washed in the dishwasher (game changer!)
Instructions
Start out by muddling your blueberries. Add them to your cocktail shaker, and then use a muddler to smash them up.
Add in the lavender simple syrup and the lemon juice.
Add in the water to your cocktail shaker.
Add fresh ice to your cocktail glass, so it can chill for a minute as you shake the drink.
Fill your cocktail shaker with ice, and shake vigorously, about 15 times. (Don't shake too long because it will over-dilute the mocktail.)
If you are garnishing with a lemon slice, add it now to the side of the glass, between the ice and the glass.
Strain the drink into the prepared serving glass. If you have a fine mesh strainer, use that in addition to the regular strainer so you can get out more of the blueberry pieces.
Add some fresh blueberries to the top of the drink, and then stick in a lavender stalk before serving.
Hint: If you are using sparkling water instead of regular water, add it after you shake the drink instead of before. Otherwise most of the carbonation will get knocked out of the liquid.
Top tip - Make a Pitcher
This is a great drink to make in a big batch for a party! Because of the citrus juice, it's best to mix it up just before the party starts. Just use cup measurements instead of ounces to make 8 servings.
You can either leave all of the mashed blueberries in the pitcher, or mix everything up in a different container and then strain it into the serving pitcher. You can add in a few lemon slices to the pitcher to make it look even better!
If you want to avoid having it get watered down, leave out any ice from the pitcher. Chill the pitcher for at least 30 minutes before serving, and just add ice to each glass as you serve it.
📖 Recipe
Blueberry Lavender Lemonade
Equipment
- Fine mesh strainer (optional)
- Citrus juicer (if you're using a fresh lemon)
- Knife and cutting board (if you're making the lemon slice garnish)
Ingredients
Drink
- 8-10 blueberries
- 1½ ounce lavender syrup (see Notes)
- 1 ounce lemon juice (preferably freshly squeezed)
- 2 ounces water
Garnish (all are optional)
- 3-5 blueberries
- 1 slice lemon
- 1 stalk lavender (fresh or dried - make sure it is food grade)
Instructions
- Add the blueberries to your cocktail shaker.
- Use a muddler to mash up the berries until most of the juices have come out of the fruit.
- Add in the lavender syrup, lemon juice and water.
- Fill your serving glass with ice.
- Fill the cocktail shaker with ice, and give it around 15 good shakes. Don't go longer than this, as it may get too diluted.
- If you're using a lemon slice garnish, add it to the side of your glass in between the glass and the ice.
- Strain the drink into your glass, pouring through your strainer as well as a fine mesh strainer if you have one.
- Top the drink with blueberries, and add the lavender stalk to the glass before serving. Cheers!
Notes
- It's super easy to make homemade lavender syrup! Check out my recipe: Lavender Syrup.
- If you want to use store bought, I recommend the Collins brand lavender syrup because they don't use food coloring.
- If you want to make lower-in-sugar drink, try out this sugar free Blueberry Lavender syrup, or make your own using allulose (instructions in my Lavender Syrup recipe).
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