I know I'm a day late and a dollar short, but I'm now trying to put my money where my mouth is and put up tutorials/pictures to help all of us in our homesteading adventure!
I have elderberry bushes that I planted 5 years ago, and I had frozen some of the berries. I make a tincture that I use for a flu remedy and the jar was getting low, so thought it was time to make more. Don't fret if you don't have the bushes, you can order dried elderberries online (I did that my first year).
Here you can see I have my frozen elderberries, a canning jar, some 100-proof vodka (and please, make sure you use 100-proof if possible), and a funnel and measuring cup.
Because I froze them , branches and all, I had to gently remove the berries from the stems. I then rinsed them with cold water to melt any ice still present in the bag.
The next step is to place the elderberries into the canning jar, and just cover with the vodka. I might have covered a bit more, but it's all good LOL! See below....
Nicely covered with the vodka!
Here you have the closed jar of the new tincture, brewing. I'll leave it in a cupboard or pantry, and In about 6 weeks, I'll strain the elderberries out through cheesecloth, and then I'll have a fresh batch of elderberry tincture! If you've ever heard of Sambucol, which is now available here in the U.S., this is basically the same thing and made at a fraction of the cost, with no preservatives necessary!
I hope this helps you all in your homesteading adventure. Please let me know if you try this!
Blessings, Fiona
Wondering...do you need to rinse online-purchased dried elderberries before use? Also, to attain a syrup-like texture, could you just add some simple syrup, and would that change the shelf-life at all? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI didn't, but that's because I assumed they had cleanliness standards. As to the syrup, I'm thinking the health benefits of raw honey would be a better option, but you could do a simple syrup!
ReplyDelete