Lavender - whole flowers dried

Who does not know the lavish purple fields of lavender that stretch like a purple carpet through the landscape in Provence? But lavender not only looks pretty, it's also a popular herb with many properties. The dried flowers were already used in ancient Rome as a bath additive or for washing laundry because of their extraordinary, calming, yet intense scent. The blue-violet flowers of the lavender bush are not only an intensely fragrant feast for the eyes, but are also attractive in taste and can be used as a raw material for tea or as a natural flavor additive.

Today you can usually find lavandin, a hybrid of real lavender and tall spear lavender, in the vast fields. However, it is not suitable for consumption because it has a slightly soapy taste. The Speiklavender is mainly used for the production of dried flowers and decorative items and is often colored purple with color pigments.

The real lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) originally comes from the Mediterranean region. It only grows in warm regions and especially on dry, rocky slopes. Most of the time, real lavender can be found in the higher regions that are pampered by the sun. Lavender prefers a mild climate, but today's varieties also feel good in our latitudes. You can often find lavender as a companion to roses in the home garden, as the fragrances keep pests away.

Lavender is a popular herb for preparing tea or fine meals, but because of the essential oils it is also used for the production of high-quality cosmetics or in the pharmaceutical industry, for example as an additive in care products such as creams, soaps, shampoos or in the production of perfumes. Only real lavender can be used for these applications.

The Golden Naturals® lavender flowers are untreated, real lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) in food quality, which still contains all essential oils and has an intense scent. The product is suitable for consumption and does not contain any colorings, preservatives or additives. Also, Golden Naturals® lavender flowers are not treated with hairspray or spray varnish to preserve their purple color. We completely refrain from coloring the flowers, which naturally fade more and more over the course of the weeks after they have dried.

The lavender flowers are harvested from June to September as soon as flowering begins. If the lavender is to be used for the production of oil or as a raw material for tea, it is only harvested when the plant is in full bloom. Depending on the growing area and the size of the farm, it is harvested by hand or with special harvesting machines. The woody part of the stalk at the top of the branch and the remains of the herb are harvested as well, as it contains a large part of the valuable essential oils that are required in the production of lavender oil or for making tea.

Then the lavender branches are gently dried at 30 - 45 ° C. In doing so, they slowly lose their purple color until they are almost completely gray-brown about 6 months after harvest. The fragrance and the good ingredients, however, are retained for at least 2 years after production. After drying, the dry parts of the plant around the flowers gradually disintegrate and, if the product has already been filled, settle on the bottom of the container. However, they are not waste, but contribute a considerable part to the fact that the lavender flowers smell wonderful. For example, they can be used to make tea. However, they should stay in the colander as they are hard and straw-like.

Application tip from our cooking team: Golden Naturals® lavender flowers are versatile. They are suitable as a delicious decoration on cakes, pastries or ice cream and, like other spices, can be used in food preparations. However, they should always be moistened well before consumption, otherwise they are very hard. In tea, soups, sauces and dough, lavender softens by itself when it is enriched with liquid.