Elderberry Liqueur Recipe - How to Make Elderberry Liqueur | Hank Shaw (2024)

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Elderberry Liqueur Recipe - How to Make Elderberry Liqueur | Hank Shaw? ›

Put elderberries into a quart Mason jar and pour over the vodka. Add the lemon rind (make sure the rind has no white pith, as it is bitter.) Seal and put in a dark cupboard for at least a month, or up to a year.

Made with dried elderberries, cinnamon and lemon. Well worth the wait! Minimum 1-month infusion time recommended (though can be drank after a few days).

Flavor Profiles

Elderflower has a woodsy and floral taste, and their sweetness comes out when elderflower is cooked. Photo courtesy of Shadi via Unsplash. Compared to elderflower, elderberry has a more intense taste: woodsy and floral, with a dark flavor that can be bitter and earthy when the fruit is consumed raw.

Instructions for making elderberry tincture

Fill your jar with about 1 cup of dried elderberries, cover the elderberries with the alcohol, and put the lid on. After 6 weeks, strain the elderberries with a fine mesh strainer or thin kitchen towel and then pour the elderberry extract into your dark dropper bottle.

Elderberry tincture is made with raw berries that have been infused in 80 percent alcohol over 6 weeks. It's a more time-consuming process, due to the time needed to infuse into the alcohol. One of the main benefits is that an elderberry tincture can last up to five years when stored properly.

St‑Germain ELDERFLOWER LIQUEUR.

Haus Alpenz — Rothman & Winter Orchard Elderberry Liqueur.

However, studies have shown that elderberry syrup is the most effective form of elderberry supplement for immune support.

The berries and flowers of elderberry are packed with antioxidants and vitamins that may boost your immune system. They could help tame inflammation, lessen stress, and help protect your heart, too. Some experts recommend elderberry to help prevent and ease cold and flu symptoms.

A fork for removing the elderberries from the stems. A bowl and a colander to store and wash the elderberries. 100-proof vodka. 100-proof vodka is typically used in tincture-making because it is 50 percent water and 50 percent alcohol, comprising a standard solution.

Do you need to refrigerate elderberry tincture? ›

Proper storage is to keep the tincture in a cool, dry place away from sunlight (medicine cabinet, pantry, etc) and make sure the bottle is tightly sealed after opening. After opening, the tincture should be refrigerated within 1 month, or unopened within 1-2 months to prevent molding.

Fill a clean (preferably sterilized) glass jar ⅓ to ⅔ full of chopped elderberries. By chopping the elderberries, you are increasing the surface area to create a stronger tincture. Fill the remainder of the jar with vodka that is at least 40% (80 proof) alcohol.

Elderberry extract, because it contains no fillers, is much more concentrated than regular syrups. That means you only need ½ tsp for each dose -- 6x more concentrated than regular syrups.

Elderberry extract is possibly safe when taken for up to 12 weeks. There isn't enough reliable information to know if it is safe to use for longer than 12 weeks. It is possibly unsafe to consume elder leaves or stems, or unripe or uncooked elderberries.

It's a good idea to always have a bottle on hand throughout the year to help with immunity, allergies, colds, and flu. Like any other fruit juice it will start to ferment if left out for too long. Elderberry syrup, when stored in a glass jar in the fridge, will stay good for 3 months.

Elderberries grow wild here. They produce a cluster of small purplish fruit that ripen starting mid-August through the beginning of October.

Anthocyanins are the major phenolic compounds in the mature fruits of elderberry (560–1347 mg/100 g FW), present mostly as cyanidin derivatives [34,35,36,37,38].