rose medicine | Rosoliu

Who doesn’t need the medicine of one of the most ancient flowers? The more and more I dig deep into my ancestral medicine ways, I am finding there are a couple very prominent ways my Sicilian people received plant medicine. “Booze” is one of them.

I feel like calling it booze cheapens it in some way, but why? Listen, our people were not “herbalists” — though they vert much were, but really they were every day people who gathered the medicine from the land and figured out how to preserve it an ingest it — besides just eating it fresh. One of those ways was fermentation.

My nonna, after my nonno died suddenly, and much too young, and left her with 6 kids and 1 on the way (my daddy)— she became a bootlegger. We found the newspaper article when she got arrested for it the early 30s.

My grandpa Emilio (not the husband of my nonna who died suddenly) made all kinds of plant medicine into wines, liquors and amari. (His dandelion wine recipe I shared here)

I love making plant medicine in all ways, because just sitting with the plants is deep medicine — but my favorite way is to present it as a libation, as spirit, as a shot. What if we all saw our “alcohol” as something to be created only in small batches and filled with intentional plant medicine? What if we choose to ingest hand made, land based, booze?

This year I decided to share my small and hand made batch of Rosoliu, which is rose based liquor, this version specifically Sicilian in style.

Because I don’t love super sweet things, I have added a really subtle bitter component to this batch (secret ingredient), which gives the sweeter rose liquor of it all a bitter and mysterious layer.

The roses came from my friend Danielle’s community garden and also from another private garden of a friend. All no spray and well loved roses. All gathered right around the summer solstice.

The roses and secret bitter ingredient were infused with organic vodka for 6 weeks and then processed with a light simple syrup.

Roses are powerful and — conduits for unconditional love. The medicine of the rose is a nervine, mood uplifter, aphrodisiac and works as an anti-inflammatory support. And of course, the rose is a deep medicine for our tender hearts. The rose IS Mother (intersecting in bother her sensual/erotic and nourishing/nurturing forms.

I have 7 five oz bottles of hand made, artisan Rosiliu available. If you are feeling called to receive some rose as well as support the idea of small batch medicinal “spirits”— the link to purchase is below.

May the force of Rose be with us all. May our heart be held in softness. May our nerves be soothed. May our lives be in connection.

xx

mb

TO ORDER A BOTTLE OF ROSOLIO CLICK HERE. All bottles have been air sealed and are $25 (this includes shipping, to US only).