Elderflower Cordial

Find out just how easy it is to make Elderflower Cordial from scratch using fresh foraged elderflower.

Soft drinks from scratch

At any given time there is a beer brewing or hedgerow wine fermenting somewhere in my house. My husband and I love making our own alcoholic beverages but sometimes its fun to make soft drinks from scratch too!

Elderflower cordial is the perfect place to start if you’re not used to making your own drinks. It’s a lovely, floral scented syrup that can be added simply to water, lemonade, or even alcohol to make delicious drinks.

To buy elderflower cordial in a shop you will notice it’s quite expensive, and for good reason. You need quite a lot of elderflower to make even just one bottle of elderflower cordial at home and it isn’t in season for very long. But, that’s what makes elderflower cordial so special!

In this post I’ll tell you everything you need to know about making Elderflower Cordial from scratch, starting with how to source the best elderflowers.

Make Elderflower Cordial from scratch having foraged the flowers yourself. It's a sweet, refreshing summer drink that can be used in cocktails and cakes alike.

Foraging for elderflower

What is foraging?

The term “foraging” means searching for food. It’s become wildly popular over the last few years as people have come to realise there’s an abundance of edible plants that you can find in your local parks, alongside the sides of roads and in our woodlands.

There are some rules you have to follow when foraging like:

only ever taking and eating something if you 100% know what it is (there are often toxic and even deadly plants that look similar to lots of delicious plants);
only ever take as much as you need so that you leave some for others (including the wildlife who rely on it);
never forage on private land.

There are lots of fantastic books that you can buy to help you on your foraging journey. My favourites are Wild Food UK: Foraging Pocket Guide (perfect for taking on walks) and Collins: Food for Free (great for slipping into your bag or pockets.)

When can you forage for elderflower?

Elderflower season is from May until August. Towards the end of the summer the pretty white flowers become berries (which you can also turn into syrups, jams and other delicious treats).

The best time to pick elderflowers is on a warm, dry day. I try to avoid going too early in the morning in case they are still damp with dew. and don’t forget to give them a little shake to remove any insects (without harming the insects), before soaking or rinsing in cold water and leaving them to dry.

Where can you forage for elderflower?

In the UK elderflower grows pretty much everywhere – in woods, in parks, along the side of train lines and roads. In fact once you know what to look out for you will start seeing it everywhere!

Try to avoid picking elderflower from near roads as the flowers may have absorbed some of the traffic pollution. Picking elderflower that is low down may also be contaminated with dog (and other animal) urine so also bear this in mind.

What does elderflower look like?

Elderflower plants are actually a type of small, flowering tree that is often found in hedgerows. You will notice them as they flower as they produce these big splays of small cream coloured flowers. The leaves are made up of 5-7 small oval “leaflets” with festery edges.

What does elderflower smell like?

Elderflowers have been described as simply smelling like summer! You’ll know you have found an elderflower tree when you smell its sweet, perfumey scent.

If you have gone out on a damp day or towards the end of the season there’s a chance the elderflowers will have an unpleasant damp, musty smell. Don’t be tempted to pick these. The smell will transfer to taste and ruin your recipe.

What does elderflower taste like?

Elderflower tastes a lot like it smells, its fresh with a floral, perfume flavour that has been described as fresh, fruity and green. Because of this it pairs well with other subtle flavours such as pear and lychee as well as citrus fruits and tart gooseberries.

For more elderflower recipes jump to the end of this post.

How to pick elderflowers

When picking elderflowers you want to avoid as much of the green stem as possible but still making it easy to use them in your recipe. Simply take a pair of sharp scissors and remove flower heads just below where all the small stems meet the main stem. That way the umbel of flowers stays together but you won’t get he bitter flavour of the stem in your finished cordial.

The Recipe

It turns out making Elderflower Cordial is incredibly simple. The full recipe is set out in printable format below but in short, you infuse water with elderflower and citrus. Then strain this (once or twice depending on how fussy you are), add sugar, bring to the boil and there you have it.

The flavour of home-made Elderflower Cordial really is second to none. We couldn’t resist drinking some after it was taken off the hob and even slightly warm it tasted fantastic. Once you’ve made your own batch, scroll down to find a whole host of different recipes from cakes to cocktails which call for Elderflower Cordial.