Elderflower Fizz
It's a bumper year for elderflower this year. The frothy flowers are everywhere and the scent is incredible. My Great Auntie Joan used to make this every summer and just the smell brings back childhood memories of drinking it in her garden full of sweet peas (yes, she gave alcohol to children!).
It also brings back a memory of somewhere around 2008 when I made a batch at my parents’ house. They were going through a phase of drinking Perrier water, for some reason, and had saved a lot of the glass bottles. We reasoned that they would be strong enough to hold in the fizz. The bottles were, the lids weren’t.
I’d just moved into a newly decorated flat in Bristol and I took a bottle of elderflower fizz with me as a housewarming gift (to myself!). I opened my brand new fridge and as I reached to put the bottle into the door, I accidentally caught the lid. In an instant it shot off and hit the ceiling, closely followed by most of the contents of the bottle. I slammed my hand down on top of the bottle, amidst a shower of sticky, boozy elderflower, while the cat tried to beat a hasty retreat. Have you ever seen a surprised cat trying to run on a laminate floor? It’s the feline equivalent of wheel-spin and they go nowhere fast. By the time I got the bottle to the sink it was all but empty. The cat and I had elderflower dreadlocks and the newly-painted ceiling was dripping with sticky liquid. The stain never did come out.
But the tale doesn’t end there. A few days later I got a call from my mum. She told me that the evening before, Dad had gone to get a bottle of mineral water out of their fridge. He hadn’t got his glasses on and when he plonked down the bottle of what turned out to be elderflower champagne on the counter, the resulting bang sounded like a shotgun going off and made my father leap in the air, the elderflower fizz going even higher. It created such a mess, they eventually had to redecorate.
I later read something by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall who said that 2008 was ‘a particularly explosive year for elderflower’.
If you're lucky enough to get your hands on a few flower heads and brave enough to give it a go, here’s Great Auntie Joan’s recipe:
Elderflower Champagne:
2 heads of elderflower
1 1/2 lbs (680g) sugar
2 tbsp (35ml) white wine vinegar
1 gallon (4.5 litres) water
Juice and rind of 1 lemon
Method
Put the heads of elderflower into a bowl followed by the lemon juice, rind, sugar and vinegar.
Add the cold water and leave for 24 hours.
Strain into bottles and ice down (or put it in the fridge)
Elderflower fizz will be ready to drink in 2 weeks.
Elderflower champagne doesn't really keep so it's a truly seasonal tipple.
Do you have any stories or anecdotes about making homebrew? Have you tried this recipe? Let me know in the comments below!
Jackie x