A deep-red, warmly spiced drink that tastes delicious drunk neat in tiny glasses (it is strong!) or as a nurturing hot toddy if you are feeling under the weather during the winter months. It makes a great cocktail too; try mixing with ginger beer.
If made when the elderberries are first ripe, this will be ready by mid-December, ideal for festive gifts.
The quantities need not be exact; if you have just over or under a litre of fruit that's fine too. To vary the flavours, reduce the elderberries and add blackberries or ripe rose hips (top and tail the rose hips before adding to the brew). All of these fruit are full of vitamins and autumnal gorgeousness.
Rich with vitamins, elderberries have been used for centuries to make healing brews for winter colds and chills. I like to think the healing properties are in this spicy cordial, especially as it also includes herbs and fruit well known for their medicinal benefits.
I use it as a ‘cure’ for colds, flu and wintry bugs. I can't say for certain that a glass of this beside the fire on a dark January day does count as one of your ‘five a day’, but it certainly feels good.
I have been making versions of this delicious brew for about 12 years now. All I remember is that it is based on a recipe from Michigan. My children were smaller then and life is so busy with young children, time flies. You think “Oh, I'll make a note of that” and then suddenly it is 12 years later on and they are all grown up! And so I don't quite recall how I first came across mixing whisky with elderberries and spices.
How to identify elderberries
The ripe fruits of elder trees are amongst the easiest of wild fruits to identify. Once pollinated, the flowers develop into small green berries. These gradually turn red and then purple-black when ripe. Like the flower, they are in clusters, and as they ripen, the whole cluster begins to droop as it becomes weighed down by the berries.
Depending on your location in the UK, elderberries start to ripen from mid-August. They must be fully ripe before picking, as unripe ones can cause stomach upsets. In fact, raw elderberries should be also avoided.
Elderberries can be used in a variety of recipes. As well as this spiced liqueur, they can be used to make elderberry wine and hedgerow ketchup (recipes on BBC Countryfile Magazine's website), and added to jams and crumbles.
This is a recipe from The Creative Kitchen, published by Permaculture, £19.95.
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