Peach Flower Lemonade

Turn edible peach flowers into this pretty springtime lemonade! It’s an ultra easy recipe that creates a single serving of naturally pink homemade lemonade.

peach blossoms, fresh lemon slices, and a jar of pink lemonade
Peach flowers, leaves, and twigs are used in Appalachian herbalism for allergies, nausea, and to calm and cool overheated conditions. Here we’re using them for their natural pink color when exposed to lemon juice to create peach flower lemonade!

While ripe peaches are best known for being delicious fruits of summer, the peach tree itself can also be utilized year ’round.

In Appalachian herbalism, peach leaves, flowers, and twigs are used to cool and calm overheated conditions, nausea, and for allergy relief.

In this recipe, peach flowers help to enrich an otherwise ordinary glass of lemonade, turning it pink through the chemistry magic of peach flower infusion + lemon juice!

basket of fresh peach flowers
basket of freshly gathered peach blossoms

How to Collect Peach Flowers

Remember that every flower you collect in spring will not turn to fruit later in the summer. I like to very selectively go through our blooming peach trees and remove a few flowers from each tree, focusing on flowers found on twigs that should’ve been pruned or won’t support a full load of peach fruits.

Here’s a photo of a twig bearing flowers, but wouldn’t be the greatest place for the fruit to develop. For me, this would be a perfect spot to collect peach blossoms from.

peach flowers on a thin peach branch
These peach flowers are growing on a thin shoot that otherwise would’ve been pruned off in late winter. We had an extra early spring this year, so wasn’t able to get all of the pruning done in time!

Later in the season, immature peach fruits often have to be thinned out to keep the full grown weight from breaking branches, so I think of it as a little pre-thinning!

As you collect each flower, make sure you’re not grabbing a bee as well, and place them in a little basket or container where the delicate blossoms won’t get crushed. Bring them in and use as soon as possible, or store in the fridge for up to or around 24 hours.

fresh peach flowers before and after infusing in hot water
The peach flowers will lose all of their color during the infusing time. Don’t despair! The pretty pink color will appear when you add lemon juice.

Peach Flower Lemonade Recipe

You need just four ingredients to make this natural pink lemonade: water, a large lemon, sugar (or honey), and peach flowers. If you choose to use honey, be aware that it will affect lemonade color.

Ingredients

  • around 12 fresh peach flowers
  • 1/3 cup water, for making the hot water infusion
  • 1 large lemon (around 2 1/2 tablespoons juice)
  • 2 to 3 tablespoons sugar (honey can be substituted to taste, but you likely won’t need as much)
  • 1/2 to 3/4 cup additional cold water

Instructions to Make

  1. Place the fresh peach blossoms in the bottom of a small saucepan and cover with the 1/3 cup of water.
  2. Cover and turn the burner’s temperature to medium.
  3. Heat until the water starts simmering (which takes about 5 minutes with my stove.)
  4. Simmer an additional 4 or 5 minutes. Don’t steep or simmer for too long or the taste can become bitter.
  5. You’ll notice the water is not pink! That’s okay, it doesn’t look promising now, but it will once you add the lemon juice.
  6. After the peach flowers have infused, remove from heat and strain into a small pitcher or jar.
  7. Stir in the sugar until dissolved.
  8. Add the juice of one large lemon, or around 2 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice. That blah looking peach tea will magically turn pink!
  9. Add 1/2 cup of the cold water then stir well and taste test over a small amount of ice.
  10. At this point, it’s a matter of adjusting the water and sugar amount to taste. If you’re a fan of sweet lemonade, you’ll likely want to add more sugar. Adding more water also helps dilute the lemon’s tartness.
  11. Serve over ice. If you’d like to fancy it up, you can also garnish with lemon slices, fresh peach flowers, and/or edible herb leaves (such as mint, violet, etc).

Peach Flower Lemonade

Turn edible peach flowers into this pretty springtime lemonade! It’s an ultra easy recipe that creates a single serving of naturally pink homemade lemonade.
4.50 from 2 votes
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Servings: 1

Ingredients

  • 12 fresh peach flowers
  • 1/3 cup water, for the infusion
  • 1 large lemon (abt 2 1/2 tbsp juice)
  • 2 to 3 tbsp sugar, (honey can be substituted to taste, but you likely won’t need as much)
  • 1/2 to 3/4 cup additional cold water

Instructions

  • Place the fresh peach blossoms in the bottom of a small saucepan and cover with the 1/3 cup of water.
  • Cover and turn the burner’s temperature to medium.
  • Heat until the water starts simmering (which takes about 5 minutes with my stove.)
  • Simmer an additional 4 or 5 minutes. Don’t steep or simmer for too long or the taste can become bitter.
  • You’ll notice the water is not pink! That’s okay, it doesn’t look promising now, but it will once you add the lemon juice.
  • After the peach flowers have infused, remove from heat and strain into a small pitcher or jar.
  • Stir in the sugar until dissolved.
  • Add the juice of one large lemon, or around 2 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice. That blah looking peach tea will magically turn pink!
  • Add 1/2 cup of the cold water then stir well and taste test over a small amount of ice.
  • At this point, it’s a matter of adjusting the water and sugar amount to taste. If you’re a fan of sweet lemonade, you’ll likely want to add more sugar. Adding more water also helps dilute the lemon’s tartness.
  • Serve over ice. If you’d like to fancy it up, you can also garnish with lemon slices, fresh peach flowers, and/or edible herb leaves (such as mint, violet, etc).

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