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I would like to try a few recipes which call for rosewater. I have made these in the past but it seems difficult to get rosewater here. Many places seem to sell "rose flavoured water".

To me this sounds like one of those fudge words to suggest that it's never been near a rose and is actually concocted from a mixture of isolated synthetic substances.

On the other hand, rosewater is really just the water-bit of distilling rose petals in steam, I think, so really could be described as "rose flavoured water".

Whether or not the taste and safety is is equivalent, I'd prefer something made from roses.

Nowhere online seems to give the ingredients for these things and actual shops are some miles away. Could someone who knows the market in the UK or the big international online sites help me out?

Is there a difference?

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    Erm... “knows the market” where? Remember, we have users from literally around the world.
    – Stephie ♦
    May 26, 2019 at 12:42
  • Good point, I'll edit it. I thought it could be an international thing.
    – Dannie
    May 26, 2019 at 12:50
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    Sainsbury's (though the ingredients only show the water for some reason) and Tesco both list products on their websites which contain "essence of rose" and no artificial flavouring
    – Chris H
    May 26, 2019 at 14:53
  • Where are you looking? (The KTC is also sold in Asda and on Amazon BTW).
    – Chris H
    May 26, 2019 at 14:53
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    Looks like I was looking in the wrong places! Our Tesco didn't have either (but it's not very big) and the Hobbycraft website only had "Rose Flavoured Water" as did our local asian-food corner shop. In the end, I rearranged stuff to go to a Lakeland in the car and got proper Rosewater (and other goodies like a sugar thermometer). I'd still be interested if there's a difference as I could just walk to two shops to sell "Rose Flavoured Water" next time round.
    – Dannie
    May 26, 2019 at 17:01

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The "acid test" is to buy some of the suspect product (first examining its listed ingredients and rejecting if they are obviously wrong) while you also have the "real thing" on hand and make two batches of something, identical except for the rosewater or rose flavored water.

Tasting should tell you whether you need to make the long trip, or not.

For a very simple test product, I will reveal that rosewater is the "secret ingredient" in my lemonade (unless it's overdone to the point of not being at all secret, but I prefer it at the "keep them guessing" level.) No precise measurement/recipe for that, I do it by tasting as I mix.

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  • Rose lemonade is lovely. Some may end up in such if I end up with a lot left over!
    – Dannie
    May 28, 2019 at 19:07

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