My wife made nearly 5 litres of Damask rose vinegar this year. The recipe is, get a handful of Damask rose petals for 200ml of either white wine vinegar or white balsamic vinegar. Put them in a sealable jar and add a tablespoon of sugar. Keep the jar in a dark cupboard for 7 days, giving it a good shake once a day. Filter the vinegar and enjoy it. Last year, she gave some to a couple of friends and they both came back afterwards confessing to having drunk most of it.
Is it possible to make the rose vinegar with any rose that is not damask? Sorry to take so long to respond, but I've been researching the heritage of our roses, and it seems none have damask in their gene pool. I'd love to make some rose vinegar, but if I have the wrong roses, there isn't much chance of success.
Nice edible roses should do the trick. I think it depends on the smell. Rosa centifolia and musk rose are also very good. Last year my wife made rose cordial with a mix of roses and it was quite good. Just try a small amount to test. As long as the rose petals are not sprayed this should work well. Avoid roses that have bitter tasting petals. I think it is probably better to stick with one type of rose. The scent of the rose is preserved in the vinegar.
Odif, I have a pint jar of rose vinegar working off in the pantry. I used David Austin's Dark Lady which is heavily scented and after a taste test (hope the neighbors didn't see me grazing on the roses!) it seemed a likely candidate.
I must have done something wrong. The rose vinegar is pretty--very deep pink colored--but doesn't taste of the rose. I packed the pint jar with rose petals, added white wine vinegar to the top of the jar, put on a lid and screw band, and set it in the cool, dark pantry. Perhaps Dark Lady isn't the proper rose to use. I'm going to leave it in the pantry for another week to see if the rose flavor appears.
Odif, I did shake it once a day, and it smells like Dark Lady, just doesn't have much taste yet. I think I may be impatient, and expect the rose vinegar to "ripen" before its time. If this doesn't work, I'll go graze the roses again and try with a different rose. Your vinegar looks so beautiful, and is obviously so delicious, I really want to succeed with rose vinegar!
Damask rose is so perfumed that you can smell even one tiny flower from yards away, however the flowers do not last long, so we get them as soon as they open. The next day they are already starting to be past their best. I hope it works for you, marlingardner.
I don't like to grow roses...can you believe that I just confessed that?...anyway this makes me want to try to grow one. Your vinegar looks spectacular.
