It was beautiful and worked really well, using just the wild yeast hanging around on the flowers.
It really is a fantastic light summer drink.
Then I lost my recipe. Boo!
But today I found it!!!
It's a really simple recipe and a bit of a hybrid of various recipes I could find on the internet.
Elderflower Champagne
13 Litres water
1.3 kg sugar
5 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 lemons (juice & rind)
112g elderflowers (about 18 heads)
Elderflower champagne concoction
I can't recall my exact method, but I think it went something like this:
I poured the water into a large sterilised plastic trug and dissolved the sugar.
I removed as much stalk as possible from the flowers - I may have washed them first to remove bugs etc. Not too much washing though as that would wash away the yeast and delicate flavours.
Then I added the elderflowers and all the other ingredients to the sugary water and gave it a good mix.
Once done I then covered the trug with a damp tea towel and moved it somewhere warm.
I think I stirred it once a day for the first couple of days.
I did start getting worried when a little mould appeared on some of the flowers floating on the mixture on day 4. After looking on-line, people seemed to think this wasn't much of a problem. I decided to bottle then anyway.
Made mixture on 5th June
Bottled 4 days later on 9th June.
Made about 16 bottles - stored in Champagne and Prosecco bottles with plastic corks and metal cages.
At the time I knew nothing about making wine and had no specialist equipment at all. Hence no hydrometer readings and no clue as to how much alcohol it contained.
I've now started making wine properly (kind of) so know a bit more about things.
This year - when the elderflowers decide to come out - I'll make more.
But I'll probably make a batch with Champagne yeast and White Grape Juice to give it a little more body. And tannin from a cup of strong tea.
