This post is sponsored by Starbucks®. The opinions and text are all mine.
I don’t know about you, but the fact that summer has begun has made it a little easier to get out of bed each morning. I love everything about summer – the colors, the fresh blooms, and the overwhelming urge to refresh my life after a long hibernation indoors. So, after putting away spring sweaters and heavy comfort food it’s high time to break out the summer produce, and find the joy in lighter, brighter meals.
One of my favorite ways to do that is by overhauling my daily cup of coffee and making it a testament to summer. These pretty lattes celebrate the season by harnessing flavors like lavender, rose, and hibiscus. Just top with frothed milked, dried flower petals and your natural sweetener of choice for a summer dream come true.
3 Floral Latte Recipes
Just because it’ll be getting warmer soon doesn’t mean I’m about to give up my daily cup of coffee in favor of something lighter—and chillier. For me, it’s all about warm drinks that are imbued with the soft flavors of summer. My summer go-to is Starbucks® Pike Place® coffee because it’s a bold, medium roast blend that I can sip slowly and savor.
Or I can get creative and dress it up depending on the occasion. Because it’s so versatile, I always pick up a few packs of Pike Place® in the coffee aisle during my weekly trip to Publix. Not only is it perfect for serving at summer celebrations, but I like to sip it first thing in the morning and throughout the day when I’m feeling scattered or run down.
While it’s strong enough to pack a punch on its own, Starbucks® Pike Place® is also the perfect base for adding your own flavors, creamers and sweeteners since it’s not overpowering. That means it goes with just about everything – flowers included.
For summer I’m always looking to bring in the lighter floral and somewhat fruity sweetness of lavender, hibiscus, honey and rose. Now, I know the idea of floral flavors and coffee might be intimidating.
But when used correctly, these subtle floral flavors are a great accompaniment to coffee as long as they’re not too overpowering and they’re served with natural sweeteners like honey, maple and coconut sugar. More than anything, they give your daily latte an earthiness that lets you know that warmer weather is right around the corner.
No matter the flavors you choose, the easiest way to make these is by creating a flower–infused simple syrup. Just add your sweetener, some water and dried flower petals to a small saucepan and simmer for a few minutes. Then remove the mixture from the heat and let it continue infusing for another half hour.
Our favorite recipes are below, but feel free to play around with your flavors, mixing and matching however you like. Since you control how much simple syrup to put in your latte, you get to control how strong the flavor (i.e., it’s nearly impossible to mess this up!). And if you find the floral taste to be a bit too much, just cut back on simple syrup and add plain sweetener to taste.
Top your cup with a dollop of frothed milk and generous sprinkle of edible flower petals for a delicious, pretty, & unique, summer latte. We found ours at a local organic health food store, but you can easily find food grade flowers online.
Floral Latte Recipes
Ingredients
Elderflower Rose Latte
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1/4 cup food-grade dried rose petals
- 1 tsp elderflower blossoms
- 1 cup Starbucks® Pike Place® coffee, brewed
- 1/2 cup milk, frothed
- Edible flowers
Lavender Honey Latte
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup honey
- 2 tbsp food-grade dried lavender
- 1 cup Starbucks® Pike Place® coffee, brewed
- 1/2 cup milk, frothed
- edible flowers
Hibiscus Vanilla Latte
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup honey
- 3 tbsp dried hibiscus petals
- 1 seeds of 1 vanilla bean
- 1 cup Starbucks® Pike Place® coffee, brewed
- 1/2 cup milk, frothed
- edible flowers
Instructions
Elderflower Rose Latte
- In a saucepan, combine water, maple syrup, rose petals and elderflower blossoms. Bring to a soft boil, then turn to low and let gently simmer for 2-3 minutes, until sugar is fully dissolved, and the rose petals become more fragrant. Remove from heat and let sit for another 30 minutes.
- Strain mixture into a lidded container and allow to cool completely.
- To make the latte, combine coffee and 1-2 tablespoons simple syrup in a mug (feel free to use more or less syrup to sweeten to your liking). Top with frothed milk and additional flower petals.
- Store any unused syrup in the fridge.
Lavender Honey Latte
- In a saucepan, combine water, honey and lavender blossoms. Bring to a soft boil, then turn to low and let gently simmer for 2-3 minutes, until sugar is fully dissolved, and the lavender becomes more fragrant. Remove from heat and let sit for another 30 minutes.
- Strain mixture into a lidded container and allow to cool completely.
- To make the latte, combine coffee and 1-2 Tablespoons simple syrup in a mug (feel free to use more or less syrup to sweeten to your liking). Top with frothed milk and additional flower petals.
Hibiscus Vanilla Latte
- In a saucepan, combine water, honey and vanilla bean seeds. Bring to a soft boil, then turn to low and let gently simmer for 2-3 minutes, until sugar is fully dissolved, and the hibiscus petals become more fragrant. Remove from heat and let sit for another 30 minutes.
- Strain mixture into a lidded container and allow to cool completely.
- To make the latte, combine coffee and 1-2 Tablespoons simple syrup in a mug (feel free to use more or less syrup to sweeten to your liking). Top with frothed milk and additional flower petals.
- Store any unused syrup in the fridge.
Keurig, Keurig, Keurig Hot, K-Cup and the K logo are trademarks of Keurig Green Mountain, Inc., used with permission.
Starbucks® and the Starbucks® logo are registered trademarks of Starbucks® Corporation used under license by Nestlé.
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