Phil L wrote:
Sacha wrote:
In the very faint hope that we actually get some sun before the
Longest Day is upon us and it's all downhill towards Christmas,
I'm passing on a delicious recipe a friend gave me last year:

90 heads of Elder flower, picked at mid-day

6 sliced lemons

9lbs. Preserving sugar (Caster will do but Preserving is better)

7.5 oz. Citric or Tartaric acid

Put all the ingredients into a large bowl or clean plastic
bucket.
Add 7.5 pints boiling water.

Stir night and day for 5 days. Strain, squeezing the lemons.
Put
into plastic bottles and deep freeze. Take out only when wanted,
and refrigerate as it won¹t keep out of the freezer for more than
5 to 7 days.

Dilute with water to taste.

This makes a very refreshing drink in hot weater.

Undiluted, it¹s also good on gooseberries or over fruit salad.

If you add a spoonfull of yeast it will also make a decent wine!
(if
you take away 7lbs of the sugar!)

Are you KIDDING? 90, read "ninety", like dude you mean, XC, figures
nine-uh zero I say again nine-uh zero, naw deg, neunzig,
quatre-vingts-dix, novanta, heads of elderflowers for two gallons of
wine? That will smell like three years' worth of cat pee soaked into
the carpet. About a pint of stripped elderflowers will flavour and
aromatise a gallon of strong sweet white wine for dessert use enough
to blow your socks off; I'd use max two heads for a gallon of
ordinary grape, whitecurrant, or gooseberry wine, and I wouldn't
leave them in very long, either. You don't apply the flowers till
_after_ the primary fermentation, whose bubbling would blow away most
of the aroma: pop them in there in a nylon stocking with a handful of
sterilized marbles (I know mine are.)

And modern preserving sugar is, indeed, inadvisable: the stuff
contains not so much citric acid as, if me soaked old grey cells do
not deceive me, pectin -- a sore destroyer of your wine's clarity,
and general irrelevancy to the domestic booze process. Use plain old
granulated cheapest: it's pure unwholesome C6H22O11 or something.
Check out my surname: we know this kind of shit in our family..

--
Mike.

The message
from "Mike Lyle" contains these words:

Are you KIDDING? 90, read "ninety", like dude you mean, XC, figures
nine-uh zero I say again nine-uh zero, naw deg, neunzig,
quatre-vingts-dix, novanta, heads of elderflowers for two gallons of
wine? That will smell like three years' worth of cat pee soaked into
the carpet. About a pint of stripped elderflowers will flavour and
aromatise a gallon of strong sweet white wine for dessert use enough
to blow your socks off; I'd use max two heads for a gallon of
ordinary grape, whitecurrant, or gooseberry wine, and I wouldn't
leave them in very long, either. You don't apply the flowers till
_after_ the primary fermentation, whose bubbling would blow away most
of the aroma: pop them in there in a nylon stocking with a handful of
sterilized marbles (I know mine are.)

Aye, in my early winemaking days I hadn't got a recipe for elderflower
wine, so I followed the one for dandelion.

When it came to tasting, my girlfiend at the time dubbed it 'Cat's
Oxter'. It was rank and vastly overflavoured.

As luck would have it, I'd acquired several hundredweight of sad dessert
grapes from Covent Garden, and made a very bland and characterless white
wine from them.

I decided that nothing would be lost if I blended the gallon of cat's
oxter with the eight gallons of plonk. It turned out like a high-quality
Muscat, and was absolute nectar.

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

On Tue, 7 Jun 2005 00:49:23 +0100, "Mike Lyle"
wrote:

Phil L wrote:
Sacha wrote:
In the very faint hope that we actually get some sun before the
Longest Day is upon us and it's all downhill towards Christmas,
I'm passing on a delicious recipe a friend gave me last year:

90 heads of Elder flower, picked at mid-day

6 sliced lemons

9lbs. Preserving sugar (Caster will do but Preserving is better)

7.5 oz. Citric or Tartaric acid

Put all the ingredients into a large bowl or clean plastic
bucket.
Add 7.5 pints boiling water.

Stir night and day for 5 days. Strain, squeezing the lemons.
Put
into plastic bottles and deep freeze. Take out only when wanted,
and refrigerate as it won¹t keep out of the freezer for more than
5 to 7 days.

Dilute with water to taste.

This makes a very refreshing drink in hot weater.

Undiluted, it¹s also good on gooseberries or over fruit salad.

If you add a spoonfull of yeast it will also make a decent wine!
(if
you take away 7lbs of the sugar!)

Are you KIDDING? 90, read "ninety", like dude you mean, XC, figures
nine-uh zero I say again nine-uh zero, naw deg, neunzig,
quatre-vingts-dix, novanta, heads of elderflowers for two gallons of
wine? That will smell like three years' worth of cat pee soaked into
the carpet. About a pint of stripped elderflowers will flavour and
aromatise a gallon of strong sweet white wine for dessert use enough
to blow your socks off; I'd use max two heads for a gallon of
ordinary grape, whitecurrant, or gooseberry wine, and I wouldn't
leave them in very long, either. You don't apply the flowers till
_after_ the primary fermentation, whose bubbling would blow away most
of the aroma: pop them in there in a nylon stocking with a handful of
sterilized marbles (I know mine are.)

And modern preserving sugar is, indeed, inadvisable: the stuff
contains not so much citric acid as, if me soaked old grey cells do
not deceive me, pectin -- a sore destroyer of your wine's clarity,
and general irrelevancy to the domestic booze process. Use plain old
granulated cheapest: it's pure unwholesome C6H22O11 or something.
Check out my surname: we know this kind of shit in our family..

BUT Sacha's recipe was for elderflower cordial, as the subject line
says. It will be diluted, and needs to be stronger and sweeter.
Though I don't think I've ever used as much as 9lbs sugar to a gallon
of water. I've not counted heads or used 6 lemons either. Still, the
stronger the better. Just don't give it a chance to ferment as
happened to me once. The kitchen was like a war zone, but luckily it
happened early one morning while we were still in bed!

Pam in Bristol

The message
from Pam Moore contains these words:

BUT Sacha's recipe was for elderflower cordial, as the subject line
says. It will be diluted, and needs to be stronger and sweeter.
Though I don't think I've ever used as much as 9lbs sugar to a gallon
of water. I've not counted heads or used 6 lemons either. Still, the
stronger the better. Just don't give it a chance to ferment as
happened to me once. The kitchen was like a war zone, but luckily it
happened early one morning while we were still in bed!

BUT Phil suggested reducing the sugar and brewing it...

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

Mike Lyle wrote:
:: Phil L wrote:
::: Sacha wrote:
::::: In the very faint hope that we actually get some sun before the
::::: Longest Day is upon us and it's all downhill towards Christmas,
::::: I'm passing on a delicious recipe a friend gave me last year:
:::::
::::: 90 heads of Elder flower, picked at mid-day
:::::
::::: 6 sliced lemons
:::::
::::: 9lbs. Preserving sugar (Caster will do but Preserving is better)
:::::
::::: 7.5 oz. Citric or Tartaric acid
:::::
::::: Put all the ingredients into a large bowl or clean plastic
::::: bucket. Add 7.5 pints boiling water.
:::::
::::: Stir night and day for 5 days. Strain, squeezing the lemons.
::::: Put into plastic bottles and deep freeze. Take out only when
::::: wanted, and refrigerate as it won¹t keep out of the freezer for
::::: more than 5 to 7 days.
:::::
::::: Dilute with water to taste.
:::::
::::: This makes a very refreshing drink in hot weater.
:::::
::::: Undiluted, it¹s also good on gooseberries or over fruit salad.
:::
::: If you add a spoonfull of yeast it will also make a decent wine!
::: (if you take away 7lbs of the sugar!)
::
:: Are you KIDDING? 90, read "ninety", like dude you mean, XC, figures
:: nine-uh zero I say again nine-uh zero, naw deg, neunzig,
:: quatre-vingts-dix, novanta, heads of elderflowers for two gallons
:: of wine? That will smell like three years' worth of cat pee soaked
:: into the carpet. About a pint of stripped elderflowers will
:: flavour and aromatise a gallon of strong sweet white wine for
:: dessert use enough to blow your socks off; I'd use max two heads
:: for a gallon of ordinary grape, whitecurrant, or gooseberry wine,
:: and I wouldn't leave them in very long, either. You don't apply
:: the flowers till _after_ the primary fermentation, whose bubbling
:: would blow away most of the aroma: pop them in there in a nylon
:: stocking with a handful of sterilized marbles (I know mine are.)
::
:: And modern preserving sugar is, indeed, inadvisable: the stuff
:: contains not so much citric acid as, if me soaked old grey cells do
:: not deceive me, pectin -- a sore destroyer of your wine's clarity,
:: and general irrelevancy to the domestic booze process. Use plain
:: old granulated cheapest: it's pure unwholesome C6H22O11 or
:: something. Check out my surname: we know this kind of shit in our
:: family..
::
:: --
:: Mike.



--
If God had intended us to drink beer, He would have given us stomachs.

Phil L wrote:
:: Mike Lyle wrote:
:::::
::::: If you add a spoonfull of yeast it will also make a decent wine!
::::: (if you take away 7lbs of the sugar!)
::::
:::: Are you KIDDING? 90, read "ninety", like dude you mean, XC,
:::: figures nine-uh zero I say again nine-uh zero, naw deg, neunzig,
:::: quatre-vingts-dix, novanta, heads of elderflowers for two gallons
:::: of wine? That will smell like three years' worth of cat pee
:::: soaked into the carpet. About a pint of stripped elderflowers
:::: will flavour and aromatise a gallon of strong sweet white wine
:::: for dessert use enough to blow your socks off; I'd use max two

When you say stripped, how do you get to use *just* the tiny white petals?

I've only ever made it once and it was many moons ago, IIRC the recipe book
said to freeze the heads in a poly bag overnight and then shake the petals
off the following day, you're not using the little stalks too are you? - I'm
sure I ended up with about a pint from a carrier bag full, but white petals
only - no greenery!

:::: heads for a gallon of ordinary grape, whitecurrant, or
:::: gooseberry wine, and I wouldn't leave them in very long, either.
:::: You don't apply the flowers till _after_ the primary
:::: fermentation, whose bubbling would blow away most of the aroma:
:::: pop them in there in a nylon stocking with a handful of
:::: sterilized marbles (I know mine are.)
::::
And your stockings?

:::: And modern preserving sugar is, indeed, inadvisable: the stuff
:::: contains not so much citric acid as, if me soaked old grey cells
:::: do not deceive me, pectin -- a sore destroyer of your wine's
:::: clarity, and general irrelevancy to the domestic booze process.

It's good for jam though, pectin helps the setting of preserves, making it
next to useless for brewing.

:::: Use plain old granulated cheapest: it's pure unwholesome
:::: C6H22O11 or something. Check out my surname: we know this kind
:::: of shit in our family..

....Hmmm!
My mate's last name is Armstrong but he hasn't been to the moon.

:-p

--
If God had intended us to drink beer, He would have given us stomachs.

The message
from "Phil L" contains these words:

:::: Use plain old granulated cheapest: it's pure unwholesome
:::: C6H22O11 or something. Check out my surname: we know this kind
:::: of shit in our family..

....Hmmm!
My mate's last name is Armstrong but he hasn't been to the moon.

:-p

Why not? :-d

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

Jaques d'Alltrades wrote:
The message
from "Phil L" contains these words:

Use plain old granulated cheapest: it's pure unwholesome
C6H22O11 or something. Check out my surname: we know this kind
of shit in our family..

....Hmmm!
My mate's last name is Armstrong but he hasn't been to the moon.

:-p

Why not? :-d

Some people just go to Kathmandu or Bognor every damn year: no sense
of adventure.

--
Mike.