Garden to Bar: A Summer Cocktail Starring Homemade Elderberry Syrup
Photos by Marie Viljoen
Elderberries ripen as summer stretches into cicada days and cricket nights. While I make a cooked syrup, too (which is shelf-stable) the fermented elderberry cordial I prefer has a more complex layering of flavors, as well as the light effervescence that turns every pour into a party.
There are conflicting findings—ever-developing—about whether elderberry has antiviral effects. But information evolves, and our minds need to remain open.
Elderberries bloom in late spring and early summer. The elderberries we eat are members of the species complex, with subspecies native to North America, as well as named cultivars (sometimes with burgundy, lacy leaves).
Elderberries ripen in late summer. Ripe elderberries, fermented for days or weeks, become bright and assertive.
All green parts of elderberry (leaves and stems, too) are considered toxic. (It takes me about an hour to de-stem five pounds of fruit.)
Elderberry syrup is a summer ritual.