Elderberry Syrup Recipe

Elderberry Syrup Recipe

Ingredients

• 4oz mix of dried elderberries + other herbs such as rose hips, cinnamon sticks/bark, cloves, orange peel, echinacea, ginger, star anise
  (1:1 ratio—one part elderberry to one part other herb mix)
• 32oz water (will reduce to 16oz)(1oz dry weight in herb to 8oz water)
• 8oz honey, brown rice syrup, or glycerin as preservative
• 2-3 Tbsp Raw Apple Cider Vinegar (optional)
• The basic proportions you want to use are 2 parts herbal decoction to 1 part honey or sugar. This is called a 2:1 ratio. This means that if you start with your herbs added to 4 cups of water and simmer down the liquid to 2 cups of decoction, then you will want to add 1 cup of honey or sugar to create
  and adequately preserve your syrup.
• Some herbalists like to use a 1:1 ratio of decoction to honey/sugar while others find a 1:1 ratio to result in a syrup that is too sweet. The increased amount of honey/sugar relative to decoction in a 1:1 ratio will be better preserved and hence last longer. Experiment and see which ratio works best for you!
• You can further enhance and preserve your herbal syrup with the optional addition of alcohol. Herbal tinctures selected for their beneficial properties can be included in syrup formulas as well. Brandy is another popular addition to syrups. The alcohol helps to further preserve the syrup and can also aid in calming the recipient (Gladstar, 1993). The addition of alcohol is completely optional and may not be the best choice when making syrups for children.

Directions

1. Add all of the ingredients except the honey to a medium saucepan. Bring the water and herbs to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 30-45 minutes. Your goal is to simmer the mixture until the liquid is reduced by about half which will leave you with two cups of liquid.
2.  Once the liquid is reduced by about half (2 cups) strain the herbs off. If you find that you have less than 2 cups of liquid it is totally acceptable to add more water to reach the 2 cup mark.
3. To strain the herbs off, you can use either a fine mesh strainer or an old (clean) towel or cut up t-shirt and rubberband which is what I like to do. If you have sensitive fingers you may want to let the mixture cool for a few minutes before straining off. The mixture can be quite hot!!
4. Discard and compost the herbs and stir the honey (and ACV if using) into the juice. Once the honey has all melted and mixed in, pour into glass jars and store in the fridge.

Dosing
This batch yields approx 35 servings. A serving for an average adult is 15 ml (1 Tbs). If you are working to fight off an infection the adult dose would be 1 Tbs every 2-3 hours. Use that high dose only for 2-3 days. A more general dose would be 1 Tbs 2-3 times a day. Children would be about half that dose depending on age and weight. If you are someone who has an auto-immune condition it is best to take this under the direction of a physician..