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[WestCountryRanger]

Elderflower Champagne

Elder is great. Apparently Judas Escariot hanged himself on an Elder tree but that's probably bollocks. It makes a seriously nice summer drink anyway and was once thought of as a 'medicine chest' in its own right. It's very common and as there have been a few posts about the canal and the cormorants recently, look there because you'll probably find some Elder. Sambucus Niger, or...Elder looks like this:






Elderflower Champagne is very easy. You need:

4 lemons
4 tablesp. of either cider vinegar or white wine vinegar
1 kilo of demerara sugar (or more if ya' wish, I use 1.3k)
About thirty to forty flower bunches like the beauties in the pictures.
A bucket with a lid (ten litres)
A funnel
A sieve
Clean glass bottles to decant them.
10 litres water

1. Peel lemon rind and then juice all four of them. Stick them in the bucket.
2. Add flower heads removing leaves and stems (and critters). Stick them in the clean bucket.
3. Add four tablespoons of vinegar to the bucket.
4. Add sugar to bucket.
5. Boil in kettle about 4 of the 10 litres of water and add. The top up remaining 6 litres cold.
6. Stir every 7-8 hours and leave for two days.
7. Sieve (twice if need be) and decant into bottles (I'd recommend the 1 litre clear glass Grolsch type bottle top you can get at IKEA:
http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/50108908 but anything will do so long as it can be sealed).
8. Leave for 3 weeks and drink before 8 weeks.

Okay, it's not overly alcoholic but don't add yeast unless you know what you're doing because you'll probably ruin it and end up with a volatile Formula One champagne explosion if you do. The flowers actually contain yeast themselves.

Serve chilled.
_________________
oo' R