Spring Tonic

Raid your hills (as long as they're not in a protected area), your backyard, or a neighbor's backyard (with permission, of course), and collect the elder flowers that are blooming somewhere near you. Don't collect too many per plant—remember, you or the local wildlife may want to collect fruit later in the year—and choose flowers that have just opened. Avoid any with brown spots or have begun to set fruit.

Then, set out to make your own cordial, a mixer that tastes of clean muscat grapes and a bouquet of flowers you want to eat.


Elderflower Cordial
You will need:
1.5 liters water
1.35 kg sugar
30 grams citric acid
3 whole lemons, thinly sliced (I used meyer lemons because that is what I have, but I think the floral nature of the meyer lemons works really well in this)
25 heads of just-opened elderberry flowers (don't rinse them off because the pollen contains flavor; don't worry about the bugs because you'll end up straining them out later)

To make the cordial:
Combine the sugar and water in a large pot, and heat the mixture, stirring occasionally, just until the sugar has dissolved. Let it cool, then add the lemons and the citric acid. Stir until the citric acid is dissolved completely. Make sure the mixture is really cool (no warmer then room temperature), and stir in the flowers. Cover the pot and let it sit for 48 hours.



Once the flowers, lemons, and syrup have sat around for a couple of days, the flavors will have combined into something that tastes like bee heaven. Pour the mixture through a colander into a large bowl to remove the flowers and pieces of lemon, then pour through a double-layer of cheesecloth to remove all the finer grit: bugs, dust, and other goodies. Finally, pour into two sterilized 750 ml bottles. You may have a little extra that you can pour into a jar for near-immediate consumption.

To serve, add to sparkling water, vodka and ice, lemonade, or any other concoction where spring in a glass is welcome.


This should keep, refrigerated, for one month.