The elder trees that covered themselves in white blossom in May are now, in September, hanging heavy with clusters of deep purple-black berries. This is one of the most rewarding moments in the foraging and herbal calendar: an abundant, accessible, well-distributed harvest of one of the most medicinally significant plants in the Northern European tradition.
A good basket of ripe elderberries is the raw material for a winter’s worth of immune support, and the range of preparations you can make from it is broader than most people realize.
Elderberry Syrup
The classic: simmer fresh berries (stripped from the stalks) with water, warming spices, and strain before adding raw honey. The most practical daily immune tonic, tastes extraordinary, and keeps refrigerated for two to three months. This is what most of the basket will become.
Elderberry Tincture
Fresh berries mashed and packed into a jar, covered with high-proof spirit and left for six to eight weeks. A concentrated, shelf-stable, year-round preparation. About one fifth of the basket makes a year’s supply of tincture.
Elderberry Oxymel
Berries mashed into a half-honey, half-vinegar mixture and macerated for four to six weeks. The tartness of the vinegar and the sweetness of the honey with the deep berry flavor makes one of the most pleasant preparations. Excellent combined with thyme for a respiratory oxymel.
Dried Elderberries
A portion of the harvest worth drying for year-round use: dried at low temperature (35 to 40 degrees in a dehydrator) for use in winter preparations when fresh berries are not available.
Elderberry Vinegar
Mashed berries macerated in raw apple cider vinegar for four weeks. Rich in anthocyanins, pleasant as a daily tonic in water, and useful as a culinary ingredient in autumn and winter cooking.
Rob of Elder
An old English preparation: elderberries simmered down slowly until very thick and concentrated, preserved with spices and sugar into a paste. Takes all day but produces the most intensely flavored and concentrated elderberry preparation available. The Herbalist Codex app has detailed recipes for every one of these preparations and the full elder medicinal history.