It is Elderberry season here in the Pacific Northwest. Bushes are ripe with berries. And, what timing! Time to harvest, prepare in a syrup, and then use for supporting you and your family’s immune system as we head into the fall and the back to school season.

Elderberry (Sambucas nigra)is one of the oldest medicinal plants and has been used for both medicine and nutrition for years. Elderberry contains a high amount of anthocyanins, and has been shown to have prebiotic, antimicrobial, and antiviral effects. Interestingly, Elderberries can prevent a virus from inhabiting the healthy cells of the nasal and respiratory passages as well as stop the growth of viruses, and, therefore both preventing and shortening the duration of the infection. (Molecules. 2023 Apr; 28(7): 3099 AND ltern Complement Med. 1995 Winter;1(4):361-9.

Making Elderberry Syrup is quite easy, and it tastes good too! It is a really accessible way into learning to process your own medicine. It is also a very tasty medicine to get into the kiddos. Using raw honey (I purchased mine from Bob’s Bees who is often parked on Martin Way in Olympia) adds an additional healing benefit as well. I also like to add a cinnamon stick or two and some freshly cut ginger during step 3. You will find different ratios used in different formulas, but here is one that I made recently that turned out great, using a recipe from www.growcookferment.com. This recipe can be kept in the fridge for up to 6 months. Because we are using raw honey, do not give this to children under 12 months old.

Elderberry Syrup Recipe

Total time for this recipe is 2 hours:

• 30 minutes of prep time
• 60 minutes cook time
• 30 minutes of cooling time

Supplies:

• Medium Pot
• Stirring Spoon
• Fine mesh strainer or cheesecloth
• Quart or Pint Mason jars with lids

Ingredients:

• 6 cups raw black elderberries or 3 cups dried
• 6 cups of water
• 2.5 cups of Raw Honey

Instructions:

1. If you are using fresh elderberries, discard as many stems and unripe berries as possible.
2. Put six cups of fresh black or blue elderberries (or three cups dried) into a large pot with six cups of water.
3. Bring it to a boil over medium heat, then lower the heat and simmer the elderberries uncovered for about one hour, or until reduced by nearly half. If you feel like it is reducing a bit too fast, you can partially cover the pot while it is simmering.
4. Remove the pot from the heat and set aside to cool to warm room temperature for at least 30 minutes.
5. Strain out the elderberries using a fine mesh sieve, pressing the berries to get any extra liquid out. You can line the sieve or a colander with cheesecloth if you prefer, this also helps to squeeze out all of the liquid from the berries. Discard the berries. You should end up with at least one quart of elderberry and water mixture.
6. Add the raw honey while the elderberry and water mixture is still semi-warm and stir until it dissolves.
7. Ladle or carefully pour the elderberry syrup into quart jars, placing the lid and ring to finger tip tight. Let it cool completely and refrigerate for up to 6 months.

Enjoy! And, if you liked making this, come by the office and see some of the dried herb formulas we have packaged up and ready to make syrups for immune and stress support.