Elder flower Champagne
I’ve always wanted to have a go at making my own elder flower champagne so thought I’d give it a go this year. Second and third week in June is the time of the year when the flowers of the elder plant are ready but it only lasts for a couple of weeks so you need to head out to hedgerows this week and gather your harvest.
The recipe I’m using is a combination of several I’ve found on the web so fingers crossed we should be drinking our first bottle of Peach Grove bubbly in about 4 – 6 weeks, if all goes well. 🙂
It’s really simple to make Elder flower Champagne so why not give it a try.
Ingredients
- 15 Litres of water
- 5 Tablespoons of vinegar
- 3 Lemons
- 1 bag + 1lb of sugar (refined)
- 15 Elderflower heads
Method
Put the sugar into a large clean plastic container and add a kettle full of boiling water. Give it a stir to dissolve the sugar then add the cold water. Shake off the elderflower heads to remove any creepy crawlies and add to the mix.
Then, squeeze the juice of 3 lemons and then add, along with the lemons. Finally add the vinegar and give it good stir.
Loosley fit the lid on your container or drape a piece of muslin or a tea towel over the top.
Set to one side occasionaly stirring about every 6-8 hrs.
Check it after a couple of days to make sure it’s started to ferment. Basically you should see air bubbles rising to the top. In a few days the champagne will be ready to bottle.
Best wishes
T.
Leave a Reply