How to Make Elderberry Syrup

Elderberry syrup is a simple, natural and very effective way to support your immune system year round. And by making your own elderberry syrup you can ensure the best quality ingredients from your own homemade version.

So whether you’re trying to mitigate seasonal viruses or boost your bodies immune system naturally, elderberries are a small but mighty powerhouse worth adding to your everyday routine!

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Let’s talk Elderberry Health Benefits

Elderberries have been used for centuries as a natural remedy to support our bodies immune systems. Even the elderflower (pictured above) has medicinal benefits! Little did they know hundreds of years ago that these small berries were packed with tons of antioxidants and vitamins! Even though our ancestors knew little about the science and complexity of these berries, they understood that these powerful berries worked, and they worked well!

Elderberries have a deep, rich and beautiful purple color to them. This is from their high amount of antioxidants. Antioxidants can help our bodies in stress overload as well as protect our cells from damage.

Elderberries also contain vitamins A, C and B along with containing lots of nutrients and minerals. They also contain antiviral properties making them a perfect combo for warding off seasonal illnesses.

Because of these benefits, elderberries are shown to help maintain a normal and healthy functioning of our immune systems. Making them my favorite remedy to ingest and feed my family during times when our bodies are stressed (hello cold and flu season).

So let’s get back to our roots and learn from our old and wise ancestors to combat sickness the natural way with delicious elderberry syrup!

Where can I find Elderberries?

Now I can’t speak for other parts of the world, but if you live in the continental United States chances are you have wild elderberries growing around you! It’s true! I didn’t know this truth for far too long. In fact I remember playing with elderberries as a child and turning them into “homemade soup” not even knowing what they actually were.

It wasn’t until my wise and older cousin who loves all things apothecary, herbal remedies and foraging, introduced me to wild elderberries that were growing in my own backyard! I couldn’t believe my eyes and I was so excited that I picked every last one that summer! (And to my surprise they all came back the next year 🙂

But here is the catch. Elderberries are only in season for about 2-3 weeks! It’s such a short season so you have to act on picking them VERY quickly. Because if you don’t, the birds will eat them or they will begin to fall to the ground because the clusters get so heavy. It’s such a fun, short season but I’d highly recommend seeking them out in your own area and picking your own someday!

The best way to do that is by looking for the beautiful white flowers that bloom in the spring, around May. They’re easy to spot and oh so beautiful. Remember that spot and go back to it mid-late August to find the full grown elderberry clusters!

So one way you can attain elderberries is by foraging in your surrounding area 🙂

The second way is by purchasing dehydrated elderberries online. This is what I used to do for years before foraging for my own.

Since 2020 I have noticed a great price increase in dehydrated elderberries online. Since many others have peaked an interest in making their own elderberry syrup, supply and demand has greatly increased elderberries prices.

However they are still more affordable to buy your own online and make your own syrup than to just buy a convenient premade elderberry syrup off store shelves. You’ll get more bang for your buck, and like I said at the beginning, by making your own syrup you can ensure the highest quality and freshest ingredients.

100% worth it!

Foraging for your own local Elderberries

I briefly mentioned how to search locally for your own elderberries but I want to talk more in depth to best help you forage for your own supply. Because once you spot your first bush, you’ll be hooked and want to find more and more!

An elderberry bush can be easy to spot because of its color. The small twigs holding onto the tiny berries are a deep red or purple color. The rest of the bush can be very tall with limbs that easily sway in the wind.

I recommend beginning to search for an elderberry bush in the spring time, usually mid May. This is when the beautiful elderflower can be found in full bloom. They are very large in size, sometimes as large as a small basketball, and can be easily spotted from far distances because the bush is usually covered in beautiful white buds.

So when you find these gorgeous lacy flowers, remember where they are because come mid August those flowers turn into dark elderberries!

But first, the elderflower also has its own medicinal benefits and nutrition. Many herbal remedies contain the elderflower and you’re welcome to pick those to use in lotions, cordials, skin care, drinks and so much more!

Have I captivated you yet with all this beautiful bush has to offer us?!

The best is yet to come because mid to late August is when the magic happens! The small elderberries turn into a rich and deep purple, almost black in color!

Elderberries grow in large clusters that become so heavy and full that their clusters actually hang down towards the ground. This is when you know they’re ripe.

You’ll want to cut the elderberries from their main large steam so that the cluster stays all together.

Now let me also explain that elderberries have both a long and short window for ripe picking.

It’s a short window because once they are ripe they become so heavy that they begin to fall to the ground. The birds and surrounding wildlife also know their benefits and will act quickly to gobble up the clusters before you may even get to them. So once they are ripe, don’t wait on picking them or they’ll be gone!

Elderberries also have a long window in the fact that their elderberry clusters all ripen at different times. You may find a bush that has several clusters of juicy ripe darkened berries, but also still has several clusters with green berries hardly ripened yet.

This is how the plant reproduces and conserves its energy throughout its season. So you may find yourself picking berries throughout the course of several weeks as they ripen at differing times.

Or you can leave the late bloomers to those hungry animals so that the elderberry bushes can continue to reproduce and spread for the coming years 🙂

Ingredients for how to make Elderberry Syrup

**Full Recipe in Recipe Card Below**

• Elderberries: Fresh, dried or frozen
• Filtered Water
• Spices: Cinnamon, Star Anise, Cloves
• Ginger Root
• Raw Honey

How to make Elderberry Syrup

1. Combine elderberries, spices and ginger into a large pot with filtered water and bring to a boil.
2. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 30-40 minutes.
3. Remove from the heat and let everything steep for at least an hour until the temperature comes down to under 100 degrees F.
4. Strain the berries and herbs using a nut milk bag or cheesecloth and squeeze all the liquid out.
5. Measure out how much juice you made and add 1/2 the amount of honey as there is syrup. *this can vary batch by batch
6. Store elderberry syrup in glass jars and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 months.

What is the recommended Dosage for Elderberry Syrup?

This is the most frequently asked question! So I’m going to give you a recommendation and then my own personal thoughts.

Elderberry syrup is heavily concentrated. There is so much nutrients and antioxidants packed into such a small amount that you do not need to take a lot of it.

It is recommended to take 1-2 teaspoons of elderberry syrup daily for maintaining a healthy immune system.

When you begin to feel sick or you have been exposed to someone who has been sick increase to 1-3 tablespoons spread out throughout your day.

And if you’re already sick, increase even more and up to 5 tablespoons of elderberry daily.

Now here is my personal opinion because we LOVE our elderberry over here and have been taking it for years.

When it comes to the amount taken, the sky’s the limit! Let me explain 🙂

Whenever I give my elderberry away, people are so afraid they aren’t taking it right, or they’re taking too much.

I even had a friend who’s child opened the fridge and helped herself by polishing off an entire bottle on her own accord. She called me freaking out that she’d risked her life from an overdose!

Let me just tell you, that you can not overdose on something that is packed with vitamins, minerals and antioxidants! Whatever your body doesn’t need, it just disposes of like anything else.

Let me say it again for the people in the back, you can not “overdose” elderberry! Your body loves everything about elderberry and it’s only going to thrive off of all you give to it!

My youngest drinks around 1/4 cup everyday. She cries for more and I do have to limit her because at some point I can’t keep up with the demand, the cost of raw honey is a lot these days 😉 But I don’t see any harm in giving her little body what it’s craving!

So, that being said, if you want to drink a whole jar over several days because you have a nasty flu bug that you’ll do anything to get rid of, be my guest! In fact your body will thank you for it and it will only benefit you and your healing, never impairing because of an “overdose”.

So enjoy the goodness of nature and all its rich and healing benefits!

Let’s make Elderberry Syrup!

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Dried Elderberries

Star Anise

Whole Cloves

Cinnamon Sticks

Nut Milk Bag

Cheesecloth

Glass Storage Jars

Thermometer