Quote Originally Posted by English Bloke View Post
And very nice they are too...

In Britain there is a soft drink called Dandelion and Burdock which tastes a bit like sarsaparilla and many British kids will remember it being delivered to your door by the man in the 'pop lorry'.

If you fancy knocking up a pot-full in your efforts to control your dandelion population, there's a recipe here taken from Tristan Stephenson's wild drink blog.

Heat 1.5 litres of water in a pan, when boiling add:

2 teaspoons fine ground dandelion root (Might need a mortar & pestle)
1.5 teaspoons fine ground burdock root (Might need a mortar & pestle)
5x 50p sized slices of root ginger
1 1/2 star anise
1 teaspoon of citric acid
Zest of an orange

Leave that little lot to simmer for 15-20 minutes, it will smell a lot like a health food shop, then strain through a tea towel, muslin isn’t really fine enough. Whilst the liquid is still hot you need to dissolve about 750g sugar. If you prefer is sweeter or ‘not-sweeter’ adjust the sugar. If you’re finding the drink a bit flavourless simply add more sugar, it accentuates the flavours of the roots and anise.

In the summer I mix it with plenty of ice and stir through borage flowers for the ultimate English soft drink! Enjoy

Variations
Frederic’s - Use 4x the amount of citric acid for more ‘bite’ and double the amount of spices for more flavour.
Hmmmm... By adding a bit of Gin this could become the official apperitive drink of the Order of the Dandelion !


Best,

Robert