Dandelion Wine

Rinse the dandelion heads if needed, then pick them over, removing as much of the green stem and base as you reasonably can; a little is fine, but too much pectin will make the finished wine difficult to clear.

In a large pot, bring 2 to 3 gallons of water to a boil. Add the dandelion petals and let steep, off the heat, like a tea, until the liquid is deeply colored.

Let the mixture cool to lukewarm. Stir in the wine yeast, the lemonade or orange juice concentrate (or the black tea, if using for tannin instead of citrus) and about half the sugar. Transfer to a large fermentation bucket, cover loosely with a cloth (not an airtight lid), and let ferment at room temperature for 1 week; the cloth allows oxygen in, which the yeast wants at this early, aerobic stage.

After 1 week, strain the mixture through a colander into a clean 5-gallon carboy, discarding the solids. Add sugar water — dissolving as much of the remaining sugar into warm water as possible — until the carboy is about half full. Add the rest of the sugar gradually over the next few days rather than all at once, to avoid a vigorous fermentation that could foam over and out of the carboy.

Once all the sugar has been incorporated and the carboy is full, fit it with an airlock (a water lock) to keep oxygen out while allowing carbon dioxide to escape; the wine now needs an anaerobic environment to finish fermenting. Let stand, undisturbed, for 2 to 3 weeks.

Rack the wine off the sediment that has settled at the bottom of the carboy, siphoning the clear liquid into clean bottles or a fresh carboy and leaving the sludge behind. Bottle and store; the wine will continue to mellow with age.

Tip: Sweetness is a matter of taste — using the full 10 pounds of sugar per 5 gallons produces a noticeably sweeter wine than some home winemakers prefer, so feel free to scale back slightly if you like a drier finish.