Elderberry syrup recipe

Homemade elderberry syrup made from dried elderberries.

Interested in making your own elderberry syrup?  I use a modified version of this recipe from The Healthy Home Economist.  I like their recipe because it is simple, with just 3 ingredients, and it tastes great!  If you scroll to the bottom of the page, you can see some images that might be helpful in understanding the directions.  This recipe will make about 3 cups of syrup.

Ingredients
3/4 cup dried elderberries (or 2 cups fresh elderberries)
3 cups water
1 cup raw honey (I use Irish Ridge honey of course!)

Directions

1. Bring elderberries and water to a boil, simmer for 30 minutes on medium-low.  As the original recipe states, you are trying to reduce your volume by about 1/3, so don't hold back on the bubbling.  I stir the boiling mixture a few times during the 30 minute period.
2. Remove from heat and mash the elderberries with a potato masher.  Wait a few minutes to cool the liquid a few degrees before the next step.
3. Strain the mash/liquid through a filter (see below for filter details) into a glass bowl.  Then, using clean tongs, press against the ball of mash in the filter to squeeze out as much liquid as possible.
4. Cool to 100F.  I cool the liquid this low so that it remains below maximum hive temperatures, which means that the raw honey won't be compromised when you mix it in.  
5. Mix in raw honey.  Note that I often mix in completely crystallized/solid raw honey and it does dissolve, even at 100F.  But it will take some extra stirring.
6. Store in the fridge in glass jars.  I use pint sized mason jars. 

Notes

• For the filtering step, I use a nylon filter that originally came with a honey bucket that I ordered online a few years ago (see picture at the bottom of this post).  I like it because it is reusable (unlike cheesecloth) and easy to clean, with no chance of cotton fibers getting into the syrup.  
• I've stored this syrup in the fridge with no issues from November to February (3 months). That's the longest I've needed to store it before it was all used up! But I do take precautions to keep it clean, like no double-dipping of spoons and no drinking directly from the jar, etc.  
• I eat about 1 Tbsp per day whenever I feel run down, as a preventative (placebo or otherwise).  When I get sick, I eat maybe 3 Tbsp/day.  But of course, I NEVER get sick because of my magical elderberry syrup, right? right?
• I usually double or even triple the recipe when I make it.
• Yes, this will stink up your entire house (good stink if you like the smell of elderberries; bad stink if you do not).
• Don't be a fool and store the syrup under a canning lid that was previously used to store fridge pickles. Unless, unlike me, you like your syrup with a faint taste/smell of garlic, vinegar, and celery seeds.
• Elderberry bushes are not hard to grow and make really pretty shrubs.  If you live in the northeastern US, I recommend Nourse Farms as a supplier of elderberry plants that should fruit about 2-3 years after planting.  

Enjoy!  :)