DANDELION WINE (not a song)

4 pints/2.5 liters dandelion flower heads
2 1/4 lbs/1kg White/castor sugar
1 tsp/5g citric acid
1 packet wine yeast
2 oranges
1/2 lb/225g sultanas (white raisins)

Pick over flower heads carefully, discarding all green parts. Green stuff will make the wine bitter, and hinder fermentation. Pour 5 pints/2.5 liters of boiling water over the flower heads/petals, chopped sultanas, and peeled orange segments (do not include peel or pith--take off as much of the white stuff as you can. Leave in an open-top non-metallic container (crock) covered with a cloth to keep out dirt, hair, etc. for 2 days, stirring twice daily.

On the third day, stir the packet of yeast and 1 teaspoon of sugar into 1 pint/.5 liter of warm water. Bring to a boil anotherpint of water and the 2 1/4 lbs of white sugar; cool to room temperature, and mix in the yeast/sugar mix, which should now be bubbling just a little. Pour the syrup into a sterile (rinse with boiling water, and let cool) 1-gallon apple juice jar/demijohn. Strain the solid matter out of the fruit/flower mixture--do not squeeze too much, and add the fruit flower juice to the gallon jar with the syrup in it. Now add the citric acid, dissolved in about 1/4 cup of warm water. Stir/shake well, and top up the gallon jar with cool water, leaving about 2" of headspace. Fix top with rubber bung and airlock, and leave in a warm place, shaking daily until bubbling stops.

Then, siphon the wine into a clean, sterile gallon jar/demijohn and top up with cool water or apple juice. Replace bung and airlock, and leave to mature in a cool place, siphoning at 3-month intervals.

The wine is drinkable at 9 months but is better left 1 year.

Remember that St. George's Day, April 23, is the traditional day to start picking dandelions.

NOTES: There are stores that sell wine-making supplies, or you can order stuff online. Bread yeast will work in a pinch, but it takes longer for the yeasty flavor to work out, get wine yeast if you can. There are rubber bungs with a hole in the middle to insert the air-lock in, not very expensive. Airlocks look sort of like a Tuba--a double loop that is filled with water to let gasses out and keep air/bugs from getting in. A gallon U.S. apple juice jar takes a #8 bung.

About siphoning: Get a length of tubing about 3/8"to 1/2" from your hardware store, and immerse it for 3 minutes in boiling water and let cool. Place the full jug to be siphoned on a countertop, and let sit overnight. Place the clean jug on a chair below the countertop. You should be able to see a definite sediment line in your jug on the counter. Insert the hose into the top jug ABOVE the sediment line, and the other end in your mouth. Be prepared to quickly poke the end that is in your mouth into the clean jug! What you want to do is siphon off as much of the liquid as you can without getting too much sediment. It is unavoidable to get some the first few times, but the wine will continue to settle and clear, which is why you need to siphon more than once. When the wine is absolutely clear, you can stop siphoning, and just keep the airlock/bung in place.

It is wise to set the gallon jar in a plastic dishpan, or something for a while, as it may bubble over and out the airlock and make a mess. Just remove and clean up the airlock, and replace it. I am given to understand that those of you in the UK may need to buy electric jackets made for demijohns to keep your wine warm enough (?) Like any yeast product, too much heat will kill the yeast, and too little will not produce fermentation. If you have any questions, feel free to PM or email me (it's at BBC's email site). I also have other recipes ... lots not quite as tedious as Dandelion.