Homemade Elderberry Syrup

A friend of mine introduced me to Elderberry a while back & I’m a believer that this stuff works. I  will now always kept it on hand especially during the winter months. So what is elderberry you ask? 

Elderberry syrup is a proven remedy for preventing and recovering from the flu, colds, excessive mucus, sore throats, and contains large amounts of antioxidants, potassium, beta carotene, calcium, phosphorus, vitamin A, B, and C and list goes on.

Properties in elder stop the production of hormone-like cytokines that direct a class of white blood cells known as neutrophils to cause inflammation, especially in influenza and arthritis. On the other hand, elder increases the production non-inflammatory infection-fighting cytokines as much as 10 fold. Elder berries are known to be effective against eight strains of influenza.

There are several commercial brands of elderberry syrup available at your pharmacy but it is much more cost effective to make it, and you can avoid the unhealthy syrups that are often in store brands. At the pharmacy or health store you can usually find it for around $12-$15 or more for 4-8 ounces. This recipe makes 16 ounces for a cost of under ten dollars and its taste great! It cost me around $6 to make 16oz!

Homemade Elderberry Syrup Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup Dried Black Elderberries (Sambucus Nigra)
• 3 1/2 cups of water
• 2 tablespoons of fresh ginger root, finely minced, or 1 tsp dried ginger
• 1/2 – 1 teaspoon of cinnamon powder
• small sprinkle of cloves or clove powder
• 1 cup (or less) raw honey    (you can also choose to use a sweetener of  your choice but honey is a natural preservative and using it in this recipe your syrup will last about 5 months. Using alternate sweeteners like stevia can be used, though this will create a liquid, rather than a syrup and it will only last 2-3 weeks in fridge) 

How do you make:

1. Put all ingredients except honey in a medium sized sauce pan.

   2. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes to an hour until liquid reduces by 1/3

   3. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.

  4. Next, Strain the liquid through a strainer or cheesecloth into a large glass jar or bowl. Discard the strained ingredients.

(this picture is from the internet as I neglected to take one at this stage of preparing)

    5. When liquid is still warm, add the honey and stir well. 

   6. Store in a glass bottle or jar in the fridge.

And Ta Da! You just made Homemade Elderberry Syrup! Store in the fridge and take daily for its immune boosting properties.  

Standard dose is  1 tsp for kids over the age of 2  and  1 Tbsp for adults. If the Flu/Cold does strike, take the normal dose every 3 hours instead of once a day until symptoms disappear.

Some additional info on the other Ingredients:

Honey: One of my Favorite Home Remedies Ever!  Nothing beats honey for a cough (in fact, it’s been shown to be more effective at soothing coughs than cough medicine itself). It’s also, of course, wildly antibacterial & an effective preservative. 

Cinnamon: Not only does cinnamon help control your blood sugar and blood pressure, it’s been historically used to treat the cold and flu.

Ginger Root: Is well known for defeating nauseousness, ginger root may not only treat your symptoms of stomach yuckiness, but it may very well help beat your other symptoms, as well. It' by far, one of the most popular medicinal herbs – and  it tastes great in this syrup

Cloves: Although most spices are excellent sources of antioxidants, cloves rank as the richest source of them all. The abundant health benefits of cloves have been well known for centuries. Cloves have antiseptic and germicidal properties that help fight infections, relieve digestive problems and arthritis pain.

I'm thinking I may try adding Echinacea & Rose hips to my next batch since both have such great health benefits as well but for now this works for me :)

Oh and just a reminder, I’m not a health professional, and this blog post does not constitute medical advice. I'm just sharing a natural alternative to unhealthy store bought medication that I have found that works for my family. ;) As we would rather use natural herbal remedies rather then these worldly medications/shots that are out there.  

May God help us all to eat and live healthy for HIS Glory!