How to make Elderflower Champagne.
READY IN 10 MINUTES A 48-hour initial fermentation PERIOD OF FULL FERMENTATION: 3 weeks 4 quarts or liters of yield
It’s true that this isn’t legally champagne since champagne grapes aren’t used in its production. But it has a strong fizz, much like real champagne.
Elderflower champagne ferments naturally using yeasts found on the blooms, and it is ready to drink a few weeks after being made. For this dish, elderflowers may be either fresh or dried.
For this recipe, you’ll need thick glass champagne-style bottles or pla astic water or soda bottles. Is it necessary to repeat that the fermentation is active? It is possible for regular glass bottles to burst (it has happened to me, and the cleaning is not enjoyable).
INGREDIENTS
- 1 pound of honey or 112 pounds of sugar
- Boiling non-chlorinated or filtered water in 2 quarts
- 6 quarts of cool, chlorinated-free water
- the juice and peel of two big lemons plus two teaspoons of apple cider vinegar, or one-fourth cup of apple cider vinegar.
INSTRUCTIONS
Don’t wash the blossom heads; the elderberry blooms’ inherent yeasts are what allow this concoction to successfully ferment. Shake them briskly to remove and dislodge any insects.
Place the honey or sugar in an enormous bowl or ceramic crock. 2 quarts of boiling water should be added. Stir the honey or sugar until it fully dissolves.
Add the vinegar or lemon juice-and-vinegar mixture along with the 6 quarts of cold water. If using, add the lemon rind. Remove the florets from the vinegar mixture. If using, add the lemon rind.
Elderberry flower clusters should be stripped of their florets and added to the liquid mixture. Throw away the inedible stems.
Place a fresh dish towel over the bowl or crock. Stir the mixture at least twice daily while allowing it to remain at room temperature for 48 hours. By the second day, particularly after stirring the mixture, you ought to observe the foamy, frothy symptoms of fermentation.
After 48 hours, if there are still no indications of fermentation, whisk in a little amount of wine or baking yeast and wait another 48 hours before continuing with the procedure.
Pass the elderflower champagne mash through a colander fitted with several layers of cheesecloth or a fine-mesh sieve.
Pour the drink into clean, thick ceramic bottles with flip tops (some artisanal brews come in this style of the container), clean, screw-top soda or water bottles, or both. Give the liquid’s surface at least one inch of headspace between it and the bottle rims. Fix the tops.
Keep the bottles at room temperature for a week, “burping” (shortly opening) them every day at least. After a week at room temperature, put the bottles in the refrigerator, but don’t forget to periodically burp the bottles.
NOTE Elderflower champagne may be stored for many months in the fridge.
It will taste more yeasty the sooner you consume it. If you want it at its finest, wait at least two weeks after bottling before drinking. The fermentation process for the honey variant takes a little longer than for the sugar version. The finished beverage should be effervescent and subtly sweet without being too so.
