A sip of summer – elderflower fermented drink

Making elderflower fermented drink is the most common way of using elderflower blossoms back home in Romania. So that’s the smell of my childhood’s springs at my parents home.

Funny enough, I’m actually not a big fan of elderflower in general (unless it comes in a fresh Hugo cocktail). But all my Romanian friends here in Copenhagen, and my boyfriend seem to love this elderflower fermented drink. So my first summer here, I got myself a big jar, I went in one of the many green areas around the city, picked a few elderflowers and video called my mom to ask ‘ok, what do I do next?’. That’s how it all began, 4 summers ago. And since then I’ve been making at least 2 batches per summer and gladly sharing with friends and colleagues.

If you’re after an easy and refreshing elderflower drink recipe, you might want to give this a try. It gets nice and bubbly, perfect on warm summer days and nice pairing with some gin, if you’re that type.

Ingredients

• 5-6 large elderflowers* (make sure the flowers are completely in bloom, try to pick them from a place that is far from traffic and dust)
• 3-4 lemons, halved (organic, untreated)
• 600g honey or 500g sugar
• water
• 1 tsp. apple cider vinegar

Tools

Instructions

1. Rinse the elderflowers in cold water and throw them into the jar/dispenser. Wash the lemons, cut them in halves, squeeze and add the juice together with 3-4 of the squeezed halves in the jar. If the lemons are drier, use 4 pieces, if they have plenty of juice, 3 should be enough.
2. In a pot, lightly warm 2l water. Do not boil the water, it just needs to feel a little warm when you touch it. Remove from heat and dissolve the honey/sugar in the warm water. Then pour it in the jar, over the elderflower blossoms and lemons.
3. Add more cold water until you’ve almost filled the recipient (just leave some space for the fermentation). Add a teaspoon apple cider vinegar and use a wooden or silicone spoon to stir everything. The apple cider vinegar won’t influence the taste, no worries, it is only there to kick start the fermentation.
4. Cover the jar with a tea towel or a cotton reusable cover, and place it in a warm place. Make sure you stir in with the wooden/silicone spoon twice a day.
5. After a couple of days, if it’s warm enough, you’ll start seeing signs of fermentation in your elderflower drink – small bubbles will appear around the lemons and blossoms. When fermentation is in full swing, the drink will become foamy on top, and it will make sounds of popping bubbles.
6. After 1-2 days of serious fermentation in the jar, it is time to sieve the drink and pour it in bottles that need to be stored in the fridge. When you fill the bottles, make sure there is a little space for fermentation gas to accumulate. Make sure you loosen the lid of the bottles once or twice every day, to release the CO2 and avoid having them explode in your fridge. After about 2-3 days in the fridge, the drink should be nice and bubbly. It can also be enjoyed as soon as it’s been transferred in the bottles, but I recommend waiting for the bubbles to get the full experience.

Notes

*** The drink can also be made with dried elderflower blossoms. I always pick a few and air dry them so I have during fall and winter in case we want to make another batch to remind us of sunnier days.

Yum