Homemade Elderflower Cordial
Bring 4 cups sugar & 4 cups water to a boil, allow to cool Add 30 clusters of fresh elderflowers Add 2 lemons and 2 oranges, sliced Add 1.75 oz citric acid powder (optional) Let sit for 24 hours, then strain and keep refrigerated. Don’t feel like making your own? Check out St-Germain. Oh, and here’s a video! photo: Proven...
Read MoreLa Vie en Elderflower
Serves 20. 1 750 ml bottle dry rose wine (not sparkling. Example: La Vieille Ferme rose, $8/bottle) 2.5 cups (20 oz) St-Germain elderflower liqueur 30 oz club soda Strawberry slice or raspberry for garnish Ice Mix the rose and St.-Germain in a pitcher—this can be done ahead of time. Fill short tumblers or wine glasses with ice, add 2 oz of the rose/St-Germain mixture to each glass, and top with 1.5 oz club soda. Garnish with strawberry or raspberry. To quickly mix larger or smaller quantities, do: 5 parts wine 4 parts St-Germain 6 parts club soda If serving in a...
Read MoreElderflower
The species of elderflower in question is Sambucus nigra, a native hedgerow plant in Europe and the United Kingdom. A variety called ‘Black Lace’ has, as the name implies, gorgeous burgundy-black foliage. The pink sprays of flowers are mildly fragrant, and if you have two of them, the flowers will give way to burgundy fruit in late summer. I grow it alongside a regular green, white-flowered variety, often sold as “common elderberry,” on the theory that the fruit will be better if at least one of its parents is the old, wild strain rather than a newer specimen bred for good looks....
Read MoreBlooming Cocktails
Last month I looked at flowers that can be used to decorate cocktails—borage and pansies and the like—but this month, we’ll consider a few flowers that actually flavor drinks. Some of these have been used for centuries to make not just liqueurs, but boozy medicinal potions as well. Elderflower. Cordials and sodas flavored with elderflowers are a very British thing, but it took an American distiller to recognize their potential. Rob Cooper, a third-generation distiller, tasted homemade elderflower syrup in a London bar and decided to create a liqueur from the flowers. The result is...
Read MoreBooks by Amy Stewart
The Drunken Botanist
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