The first step to obtaining top-quality culinary lavender is to realize that your best choice is buying North American grown. Many lavender farms have sprung up around the US and Canada, and a number sell culinary lavender both in their farm shops and online. Put aside the outdated notion that French lavender is better. In fact, more than 80 percent of the lavender grown in France is a hybrid type called X intermedia; it is ideal for use in cosmetics, but is too strong and camphorous for cooking. In addition, much of the “French” lavender sold online is packaged in France, but actually grown elsewhere. Both the freshness and quality are uneven.
If you are looking for a nice range of culinary lavenders to chose from, I suggest checking out A Pinch of Lavender https://a-pinch-of-lavender-llc.square.site/culinary . They sell Buena Vista, Royal Velvet, Betty’s Blue, Melissa, Imperial Gem, and Folgate. All these are Angustifolias, or “true,” lavenders; they are low in camphor and fruit, floral and citrusy in character, which makes them excellent for culinary use.
Owner Lee Ann Nielsen ships promptly and all her culinary lavenders I’ve tried have been fresh, carefully debudded and particularly well cleaned. She says they use a multi-step cleaning process involving screens, a motorized shaker, and a vacuum machine. You can take a look at how they do it by scrolling down to the bottom of the page at https://www.nielsenvillage.com/cleaning-lavender
Below are some other farms to check out that sell varieties of culinary lavender you might want to try.
Copper Knoll Farms
Avice Hill, Betty’s Blue, Folgate, Melissa, Royal Velvet, Sachet
Down By the River Lavender
https://downbytheriverlavender.com/shop/food/lavender-culinary-bud/
Pacific Blue
Little Lavender Farm
https://www.littlelavenderfarm.com/store/c5/Culinary.html
French Fields, Royal Velvet
Sage Creations Farm
Buena Vista, plus 2 other culinary lavenders sampler pack
Summerhouse Lavender
https://www.summerhouselavenderfarm.com/shop/culinary/11?page=1&limit=60&sort_by=category_order&sort_order=asc
Buena Vista, Violet Intrigue, Folgate
3 Strands Farm
Hidcote, Miss Katherine
