Lavender Lemonade

Santa Barbara County is lavender country, and a light touch of it turns ordinary lemonade into something that tastes like the place. Built on Meyer lemons, which grow up and down the coast, it is softer and rounder than a hard, sour lemonade, and it photographs like a postcard.

Against a plate of smoky, charred tri tip, the job is contrast: cold, floral, and bright to lift the heaviness of the meat and the fire. Keep the lavender subtle. A whisper reads elegant, a heavy hand reads like soap.

Meyer lemons are a cool-season fruit, at their best from late fall into spring, which makes this a good way to bring some brightness to a winter cook. In summer, regular lemons work fine. Cut them with a splash of orange juice to get closer to the Meyer’s sweeter, rounder flavor.

Use culinary lavender, the kind sold for cooking, not dried bundles from a craft store. Make the syrup a day ahead and keep it in the fridge, and the lemonade comes together in a minute when people show up. For a crowd, double the batch in a big pitcher and set it out next to the agua de Jamaica. The purple and the deep red look great side by side.