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Drinks

Honey Elderberry Syrup

September 6, 2021 by Alexandra Daum
A late summer gathering staple, honey elderberry syrup is often used as a sore throat remedy. It makes a great easy drink, too.
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Three glass containers of dark purple elderberry syrup.

First off – what does elderberry syrup taste like? If you’ve never tried it, I’d compare to children’s Glühwein made from grape juice, or blackberry juice. This honey version is quite sweet and does have flavour notes from the honey, lemon, ginger, and cinnamon. It tastes like autumn and it’s delicious.

Elderberries are bitter and just a touch poisonous raw, but delicious cooked! Don’t eat them before cooking and try to keep the stems out of your mix. As always with any gathered foods, don’t pick and consume them unless you’re completely sure what they are, that they’re not exposed to anything dangerous in the area around, and that you’re not allergic.

This elderberry syrup makes good use of vitamin rich elderberries alongside ginger, honey, and lemon, for a sweet tonic for the colder months. Use it like cough syrup if you’re under the weather (1-2 tablespoons every few hours), take a tablespoon once daily (for adults) if not, or try mixing with sparkling water for a refreshing drink.

This is a partner recipe to my honey elderflower cordial, using berries from the same trees.

Elderberry For Colds

Medicinal usage of elderberries stretches back millennia, and it’s often included in medicines today. I take a tablespoon each day during autumn and winter to soothe a sore throat (especially good as this version uses honey instead of sugar). Some people swear by elderberry syrup preventing colds and a number of other maladies as it’s so high in vitamin C and antioxidants.

There is some peer-reviewed evidence of elderberry being helpful in reducing the duration of cold symptoms, but it needs more research – and though I wouldn’t compare elderberry syrup to doctor-prescribed medicines or preventative shots, it also doesn’t hurt. If nothing else it is nice for a sore throat.

Ingredients

  • Fresh Elderberries: it’s also possible to use dried (purchased) berries, or frozen.
  • Water: I use tap water. If your local water isn’t very good, you can use distilled.
  • Fresh Ginger: fresh, not dried! There is a significant difference in flavour.
  • Lemon Juice: preferably from fresh lemons, unless the bottled juice you have is only lemon juice and no additional preservatives, which will affect the taste.
  • Cinnamon Stick: ground cinnamon doesn’t work for this recipe.
  • Honey: for sweetener and throat-soothing qualities. Maple syrup can be used (see substitutions below).
Elderberry syrup ingredients.

Step by Step

  • Syrup ingredients before cooking.
    Add berries, water, cinnamon, and ginger to a pot.
  • Syrup after cooking.
    Cook until reduced.
  • Straining the syrup mixture through a fine sieve.
    Drain the juice into a heat safe bowl.
  • Elderberry mixture after being pressed with a spoon to release the juice.
    Press on the berries to release any remaining juice.
  • Squeezing lemon juice into the bowl.
    Add the lemon juice.
  • Showing the syrup mixture before mixing in honey and lemon.
    Add the honey.
  • Woman's hands whisking the syrup in a large glass bowl.
    Whisk until fully combined.
  • Syrup in the bowl after mixing, with lighter bubbles on top.
    Cool and bottle.

Tips and Notes

Elderberries are often full of small bugs that you may not want to cook. It helps to spread the berry heads out onto a clean tea towel outdoors for about an hour before beginning on the syrup to give any insects time to move somewhere else.

The berries must be fully ripe. Most of the time this isn’t an issue because unripe berries simply won’t come off the tines, but if there are a number of green berries in your mix, pluck them out. I often have to pick before all of the berries on the tines are fully ripe as the birds pick the ripe ones off individually.

If you’d like, use raw honey for any additional benefits that come with that. The honey isn’t heated with the elderberry mixture. If you accidentally add the honey before simmering, don’t worry – the syrup is still useable, you’ve just cooked the honey and lost any of those potential benefits. It’s still good for a sore throat.

Storing Elderberry Syrup

In my experience, this syrup keeps for several weeks in the refrigerator. Make sure there’s no evidence of mould or an unpleasant smell before using. Make sure the jars are sterilised (in the dishwasher, or boiled as you would for canning) to extend the shelf life.

I haven’t tried canning it as I don’t want to heat it after the honey is added, and I think it’d need a pressure canner to ensure food safety anyway. You could certainly can it in a water bath and then store in the refrigerator, though.

The syrup can be frozen for up to one year in a sealed container. If freezing, you should be able to get through the colder months with a good supply and simply thaw it in the refrigerator as needed.

Elderberries on the tree, ripe.

Substitutions

I haven’t tried this with dried elderberries, but it should work. Use about half the amount of dried fruit and follow the other directions as written. Frozen can be used in the same quantity as fresh.

If you prefer, it is possible to make this with sugar or maple syrup instead of honey, for a vegan syrup. Sugar will have to be dissolved by briefly cooking it with the strained syrup but maple syrup can be used in the same way as honey.

Additional spices can be very nice – cloves, star anise, cardamom – to make a mulled wine flavour. If that’s what you’re going for, try adding some orange peels or zest to the elderberry mixture when boiling as well.

More Gathered Food Recipes

I’d had big plans to start an ongoing recipe and video series with wild and gathered foods with a friend in Germany last year. Of course, inability to travel due to the pandemic put a stop to that, and unfortunately there’s very little wild food in the Netherlands. Here are some older recipes using nuts, berries, and apples.

Elderflower Lemonade
Apple Hazelnut Cake
Walnut Energy Bites
Apple Oatmeal Cookies with Blackberry Jam
Crab Apple Butter

Close up of berries after being removed from the stems.

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Yield: 15

Honey Elderberry Syrup

Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 2 hours
Total Time 2 hours 20 minutes
5 from 2 votes

Ingredients

Metric – American
  • 300 grams fresh elderberries stems removed (berries only)
  • 1 litre water
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 1 thumb ginger sliced (about 5cm / 2 in.)
  • Juice of a lemon ~3 tablespoons
  • 150 grams honey

Instructions

  • Place the elderberries, water, cinnamon stick, and ginger into a large lidded pot.
    300 grams fresh elderberries, 1 litre water, 1 cinnamon stick, 1 thumb ginger
  • Bring to a low boil over medium heat, covered.
  • Once the mixture has reached a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook the juice down with the lid cracked slightly for one to two hours, or until the amount has reduced by about half.
  • Once the juice is reduced, remove from the heat. Pour the mixture through a fine-meshed sieve or cheesecloth into a large heatproof bowl.
  • Press the berries to extract any remaining juice, then discard.
  • Add the lemon juice and honey to the juice and whisk well to combine.
    Juice of a lemon, 150 grams honey
  • Cool the syrup before bottling in sterilised containers or jars. Refrigerate for up to one month* and freeze for up to a year.

Notes

* This varies based on refrigerator temperature, etc. – if you see any hint of mould or the syrup smells off, toss it. I store one-third of the syrup in the refrigerator and have the rest in the freezer at any given time (so one small bottle in the fridge).
• With ripe elderberries, it’s easy to remove them from the stems using the tines of a fork.
• Make sure there are no stems in the berries, as this can cause bitter syrup, as well as being mildly poisonous. A tiny amount is fine. Wash carefully to remove any dust and bugs before using.

* For American cup measurements, please click the pink link text above the ingredient list that says ‘American’.


Nutrition

Serving: 1tbsp Calories: 46kcal Carbohydrates: 12g Protein: 1g Fat: 1g Saturated Fat: 1g Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g Monounsaturated Fat: 1g Sodium: 5mg Potassium: 64mg Fiber: 2g Sugar: 8g Vitamin A: 121IU Vitamin C: 7mg Calcium: 13mg Iron: 1mg

Nutrition is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate. If this information is important to you, please have it verified independently.

© Alexandra Daum
Course: Drinks
Cuisine: European
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