pop! goes my summer: herbal arnold palmer pops

September 6, 2017/

I’m always – ALWAYS – looking for interesting, unique and beautiful finds, both for myself and to give as gifts. Candles are great. Notecards? Even better. Homemade baked goods? You know……………

So I was really thrilled when Jason Cohen, of Flower Pot Tea Company reached out and asked if I’d like to take a look at his products and collaborate on a post (all product images courtesy of Flower Pot Tea Company).

Jason is a fellow Westchester-ite, whose extensive travels in Asia introduced him to a variety of herbal and traditional teas that are as beautiful to look at as they are delicious to drink. He decided to share this experience globally, and a company was born!

Flower Pot Tea Company offers both “blooming” teas and floral tisanes.

The blooming teas are a true sensory experience. Tea leaves are infused with the essence of fruit, and then wrapped around dried flowers. When boiling water is added to the ball it unfolds (“blooms”), creating a beautiful display that can be kept for up to 5 days.

The herbal teas – or tisanes – are actually not teas at all, but dried flowers. They smell heavenly when steeped and are so pretty to look at too.

All products are free of artificial colors and flavors, and beautifully packaged – making for a truly unique gift. And I’ve got a special offer to get you started! Enter DD&D17 for 10% off your first purchase

Of course I was totally excited to use the teas in a recipe, and thought “popsicles”.

I went with a twist on the Arnold Palmer, making a simple homemade lemonade and layering it with the chrysanthemum tisane.

So pretty and delicious.

Though I’m a die-hard iced coffee drinker, I do appreciate the “sit and be” ritual that a cup of tea evokes, and look forward to brightening up those long winter months with these colorful and fragrant teas!

Scroll down after the recipe for more inspiration!

Herbal Arnold Palmer Popsicles

1 cup sugar
1 cup fresh lemon juice (from about 6 lemons)
15 Flower Pot Tea Company Bright Chrysanthemum blooms

Make a simple syrup: combine the sugar and 1 cup water in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring till sugar is dissolved. Bring to a boil, remove from heat and let cool completely.

Combine 1/2 cup lemon juice with about 1/2 cup simple syrup, adjusting flavors by adding more lemon juice or syrup if needed. Keep in fridge till ready to use.

Bring 4 cups of water and the chrysanthemum blooms to a boil – boil for about 10 minutes. Strain the liquid (discarding the blooms) and cool. Transfer out about a cup to use in the pops, adding simple syrup to taste.

Fill molds one-quarter of the way up with half the lemonade – freeze till solid. Add your popsicle sticks and fill another quarter with half the tisane. Freeze till solid. Repeat with the remaining lemonade and tisane; freeze overnight.

To remove pops, hold molds briefly under hot water. Return to freezer till ready to serve.

(print this recipe)

This delicious recipe brought to you by Sheri Silver
https://sherisilver.com/2017/09/06/pop-goes-my-summer-herbal-arnold-palmer-pops/

Want more popsicles? Check out my Pinterest board!

Floral syrup: combine 15 blooms with 4 cups of water and 2 cups of sugar. Boil till mixture is viscous and deeply colored. Remove some of the blooms for garnish later (if the blooms don’t survive the boiling, steep some fresh blooms separately).

Floral cocktail: to a shaker filled with ice add 2 shots of floral syrup, 2 shots of vodka, 1 shot of limoncello, 2 dashes of bitters and the juice of 1/4 lemon. Shake well and serve, garnished with a few petals or blooms.

Floral lemonade: add syrup to taste to your favorite lemonade, along with some blooms for garnish.

Note: I was not compensated for this post. I was given samples of Flower Pot Tea Company teas and tisanes to sample; all comments and opinions are, as always, completely my own.