I started making elderberry syrup years ago, so long ago in fact that I didn’t know pre-made options were a thing! It’s an effective wellness supplement- I think of it as our daily Vitamin C, but also a terrific cough syrup or something to “hit hard” when you’re coming down with or have a bug.
Adults take 1 tbsp daily as preventative, Children 1 tsp. Not for children under 1 year old due to the honey. If you feel something coming on or are sick, you can take a dose every hour. When I’m not well, I like to keep a shotglass of it behind the sink and when I remember, I take a sip.
If your kids make a sticky mess of themselves taking elderberry syrup or it’s too much like medicine for them and they give you a hard time, try Elderberry Gummies instead!
Big Batch Elderberry Syrup
Ingredients
- 3 cups dried elderberries
- 6 whole cinnamon sticks
- 2 tbsp whole cloves
- 1/4 cup dried ginger OR
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh ginger
Instructions
- Add everything into a big pot with 18 cups of water.
- Bring to a boil, turn down to a gentle simmer.
- Let it simmer for an hour, turn off the heat and let cool til warm.
- Strain through a cheesecloth or thin tea towel, squeezing out all the good stuff!
- Then you can either whisk in honey- 1 cup good raw honey for every 2 cups juice.
- Or I like to freeze the "spiced elderberry juice" in wide mouth canning jars (leave lots of headspace, chill in the fridge 24 hrs before freezing) or containers. This way I only have to add honey to one batch at a time.
- Keeps in the fridge for weeks and weeks and weeks, or make elderberry gummies with it!
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