Elderberry Syrup Recipe (Using Fresh Berries)

This year for the very first time we were up at our mountain cabin when the elderberries were ripe. Other years I would get my hopes up only to find the berries completely gone or covered with caterpillars that ate them all. I picked a big bag full and made elderberry syrup and tea.

You have to take all the berries off the stems because these are the opposite of pokeweed, according to the people of the internet: the ripe berried are safe but the plant is toxic. When I took all the berries off I had 3 cups of berries. I added one cup of water, 3 cinnamon sticks, 3 whole star anise, and a couple teaspoons of ginger. Then I brought it all to a boil, turned the heat down, and simmered it for a half hour or so until the whole mixture was reduced by about a fourth.

Then I lined a strainer with cheesecloth and strained out the solids, saving the juice of course. I used gloves to squeeze all the juice I could out of the solids and set the solids aside to make tea.

The juice was still juice, not syrup so I added 2 more cups of water, boiled it, lowered the heat, and simmered it for 45 more minutes. Then I let it cool. Once cool I added 3/4 cup raw unfiltered honey and 3 TBSP whisky as a preservative.

If you wanted to make this low-sugar you could substitute monkfruit or stevia for the honey but then you will need to increase the whisky to about a half cup to act as a preservative since you aren't getting the preservative effects of the honey (which is a mold inhibitor). That will taste much more medicinal. I used vanilla whisky to help it taste more like syrup. 

The dosage is 1-3 tsp daily to boost immunity. Some studies have shown elderberries help with blood sugar control, as does cinnamon, so this might be useful in that regard as well as for immune-boosting properties.

Of course, please remember I am not a doctor so run anything like this by your medical professional before trying it.

After I made the syrup I spread the leftover hulls and spices out on parchment and dried them in the dehydrator to make tea. Once the solids are dry you can break them up and use them as you would use tea leaves. Since they are already "spent" you will need to double up the amount of "tea leaves" to get much flavor from them but this way nothing goes to waste. 

I also saved a few not-quite-ripe berries and planted them in the garden here to see if we can grow some elderberry bushes at our lake house where I can keep an eye on them better.

Have you ever tried making elderberry syrup? It's really quite good. It was approved by our son's taste test. He caught pneumonia last winter and I hope this will help him avoid it this year. 

If you want to watch the process you can head on over to Instagram to see the Reel I made about it. Just click here.