Elderflower champagne

Plenty of elderflower here - in fact its starting to go yellow and a bit past its best.

I must admit I haven't been looking at bushes whilst walking Kato? I am just going by the two Sambuca Nigra which I have in the garden which are just starting to come into flower?

I made elderflower cordial two weeks ago, the elderflowers this year have been spectacular, bushes everywhere absolutely covered, and the scent gloriously sweet (most of them, the odd shrub here and there is stinky - does it depend on the soil/location, or are there different strains, like with blackberries, I wonder)

Yep, checked on my morning walk this morning and the bushes I frequent in the woods are just about ready to flower?  I could of course make pink elderflower champers with my pink rubra flowers in the garden but I would rather not spoil the show!  There are hundrds of varieties each with there own colour and taste of flowers.

Well,  that's all of  last years elderflower consumed now (seems to get tastier with age and mixed with cheap lemonade is very refreshing!) Just need to gather a few bottles together and wait for the elderflowers around here to come fully into bloom now, and a sunny day to pick them would be nice!

I listen to you guys in envy. There's not that much elder here.

Finally, got around to grabbing a carrier bag and taking Kao for a walk to my favourite elderflower bush. It doesn't seem to be suffering at all from me pillaging some of it's flowers every year? It was full of bloom and I oould smell the fragrance long before I got there. I only picked a very small portion of it's blooms, as I do every year. The bush I use is well away from any roads thankfully so no pollution to spoil the flowers.

I used my Gran's old recipe which was 4 lemons, using the zest and juice and 2lb of granulated sugar. This time I remebered she added a small amount of wine vinegar, so I did the same this time.
Hot water added to dissolve the sugar, then fill large bowl up to wthin a couple of inches of top to allow space to float the elderflowers on top. I've covered with a towel to keep any bugs out, so now its a waiting game before sieving and bottling.
I've no idea how much the large bowl holds but usually get about half a dozen 2 litre pop bottles out of it?

By coincidence, I decided to pick some elderflower yesterday to dry the flowers for tea. They've all gone, apart from some flowers that are too high up for me to reach (and I don't mean 6', before anyone decides to make fun of me). Must be more organised next year!

I've just filtered and bottled off my elderflower. Five two litre bottles exactly with half a cup left for me to drink unfermented.

I haven't used a recipe, just tried to remember how my Gran made it? I remebered she put some vinegar in hers so I've added a bit this year. I couldn't taste it in the half cup I had and I have no idea why she added it?
There was very little solids in the must, compared to last year. I grated lemon rind into it and squeezed the lemon juice but didn't add the remains of the lemons this year, so that's maybe why?
It's just a waiting and burping game now to see how it ferments and tastes?

I had a 'burping' session this morning and all bottles are burping away nicely which shows fermentation has began, so I must have done something right!  My Gran only had glass pop bottles which she put in the airing upboard and I vaguely remember a few of them bursting and causing a chain reaction!

Hopefully I have a bit more leeway with plastic bottles?

I had a 'burping' session this morning and all bottles are burping away nicely which shows fermentation has began, so I must have done something right!  My Gran only had glass pop bottles which she put in the airing upboard and I vaguely remember a few of them bursting and causing a chain reaction!

Hopefully I have a bit more leeway with plastic bottles?

When I was a  kid, mum had a similar experience with ginger beer.  All 20 odd bottles exploded. Luckily it was in a tiled scullery. It was a devil to clear up,  the floor was sticky for weeks.