The Elderflower Season
The end of May and the beginning of June feels like a cup full of sunshine. Every day, new flowers bloom, and various herbs reach their peak potential when harvested during this time. This year, the Elder tree surprised us all by bursting into bloom all at once. It's become a tradition here at ZM Retreats to make our own elderflower cordial.
At first, I wasn’t sure if we were going to make it. Instead of going all out with big laundry baskets full of flower heads, we decided to simply do something rather than nothing. This is generally good advice for many aspects of life. So, we went to one of our Elders and collected two big bowls of flowers.
In our kitchen, we heated several liters of water and added 4 kg of brown sugar and fresh ginger. While we picked all the flower heads into a separate bowl, the sugar mix was allowed to cool. After a lot of picking (this is the most time-consuming part of making elderflower cordial), we poured the syrup over the flowers and added 1 liter of freshly pressed lemon juice. At this point, the whole kitchen filled with the most delicious aromas of lemon and flowers. It’s like summer and spring had a baby, and this is how it smells.
Afterwards, we let the whole concoction sit for three days, stirring daily to avoid fermentation. There are just a couple of final steps before we can present this year's elderflower cordial to our guests for a great tasting. To ensure no mold forms in our bottles, we need to carefully sieve all the flowers. Some whiskeys are triple distilled, but our cordial is triple filtered. We use various sizes of sieves and finally pour the golden syrup through a fine mesh gauze. Then, my friends, we can pour it into (clean!) bottles and jars.
The final part is essential if you, like us, want to keep your cordial in good shape well into the winter and beyond. We bring a big pot of water to a boil, place a dishcloth for the jars and bottles to stand on, and then boil them for 20 minutes. This method, called canning, ensures that the bottles or jars are securely closed and eliminates any bacteria to prevent mold. Unfortunately, it may also remove some of the health benefits of the food being stored. Alas, we must give up a bit of the sunshine to enjoy it on a cold, wet autumn afternoon.
Right now, however, we are enjoying some perfectly moderate sunshine—not too hot, not too cold, just right for Goldilocks to make herself a refreshing non-alcoholic spritzer:
**Ingredients:**
- 1 part sparkling water
- 1 part mineral water
- 1 ice cube
- A small bunch of mixed herbs like rosemary, mint, and lemon balm – chopped up and dropped in a glass
**Instructions:**
1. Pour 2-3 tablespoons of elderflower cordial over the herbs in the glass.
2. Add the sparkling and mineral water.
3. Add the ice cube and mix.
Enjoy the zing!
