Winter Tonic

Just as we enter the cold and flu season the Elderberries ripen. Elderberries have been shown to contain antioxidants and vitamins so every year we make our own cold remedy that helps soothe our throats and warm us up through the autumn and winter months.

Here is a recipe for a our winter tonic:

Pick the sprays of ripe elderberries and carefully remove all the stalks (these contain cyanide, not good). Put the berries into a pan with half the volume of water then simmer and stir for twenty minutes.

Allow the mixture to cool, and then squeeze out the juice using a jelly bag or fruit press.

Measure the juice out and for every 500ml of juice add 250g of muscovado sugar, a stick of cinnamon, a few cloves and a few slices of lemon.

Simmer again for 20 minutes then strain and pure into a sterilized bottle.

Take one teaspoon neat every few hours for colds and flu or use as a cordial or hot drink with boiling water.