Immune Strengthening Elderberry Syrup

I like to make a big batch of elderberry syrup each cold & flu season to help ward off any nasties. Among a whole host of other amazing benefits, Elderberries are great for boosting the immune system, and they can help to both fight and protect against bacterial and viral infection.

In a cold and flu emergency, I’ll pop down to Coco’s Wealth of Health and purchase some Kiwiherb Echiberry Syrup - but when I have a little extra time, and am preparing for winter, I’ll pop a big pot of this syrup on the stove.

Making it yourself means you know exactly what ingredients are going in to your syrup. You can add/remove ingredients to suit your taste and any sensitivities you

may have (eg sometimes I leave out the Cinnamon as Riley hates it), and it tends to be a lot stronger than store bought varieties.

Making it yourself also tends to be a lot cheaper than buying a pre-made syrup. This is because once you’ve purchased all the ingredients, you will usually have enough to make more than once batch. One batch of this syrup is also about 10 times the size of a bottle that you'd purchase in store, so I usually leave a jar in the fridge, and then freeze a jar or two or give away to friends.

You can make this syrup as simple as you like, but the more optional additions you include, the more medicinal it will be. I order my herbs online from Austral Herbs.

Take a spoonful each day throughout the colder months to ward off colds and flu, and increase to a spoonful 3x per day during times when you are feeling unwell.

Ingredients

150g dried elderberries

3l sugar free apple juice

250ml raw honey

Optional additions

50g rosehips

50g echinacea

15g liquorice root

Up to 10 cinnamon sticks, depending on your taste

Method

Place all of the ingredients, except the raw honey, into a large pot on the stove.

Heat over medium heat, stirring until it comes to the boil and then simmer for an hour our two.

After I’ve turned the heat off, I like to let the mixture sit on the stove for a few hours and cool completely before straining the herbs out.

Once strained, put the mixture back into the pot with the raw honey and heat at a very low temperature until the honey is melted.

Once the mixture has cooled down completely, pour it into sterilised glass jars and store in the fridge for up to a month, or freeze for later use.