Elderflower - the ultimate “pick-me-up” fragrance

I was feeling like so many things were getting me down earlier today...

But the forecast thunderstorms didn’t come! So I went down to the bottom of the garden, and picked a heavenly-scented* trug of elderflower heads.

An hour later, and I’ve a batch of elderflower champagne starting, along with some elderflower cordial.
Feeling Back. In. Control!

* yes, I know elderflower can smell like cats pee too. But those trees? You just walk on by, and find a tree that is heady, perfumed, where your soul soars. The cats-pee smelling trees will still be there in the autumn, groaning with lush elderberries, ready for making elderberry syrup.**

** see! A genuine, natural pick-me-up!

 

Dangerous stuff, elderflower!

The cordial is behaving itself, and clearing slowly. Looking forward to that over the coming weeks and months.

The elderflower champagne.... it was bottled at the beginning of the week. We have to release the pressure twice a day, every day. This evening, one of the bottles “popped” with such force that it split the rubber seal on the bottle. It took half an hour of gently releasing thumb pressure, then re-sealing it, before hubby could take his hand away without the contents erupting over the whole kitchen!!

 

I'm thinking of doing a bit of wine making myself, not done any since the 80s, back then you could just go into a shop and buy all the things you need, even most garden centres stocked wine making equipment and yeasts etc.

So where do you get reliable stuff from these days?

Seems like online, e bay etc. but any suggestions of who is worthwhile would be good, not a fan of e bay, most stuff seems a bit tacky or at least risky.

 

I missed this thread before but the other day I bought some R. Whites Lemonade flavoured with elderflower.... I've never tasted owt like it before in my life. Absolutely gorgeous, I had to stop myself drinking all four bottles in one go !Well said @Sian in Belgium , the best pick me up there is

 

I drink Fever-Tree elderflower tonic @KFF. It's got a slightly bitter taste to it but it's really refreshing.

 

Hi @Sheal , where do you buy that from them please ?

 

Tesco. In ours it's by the other tonics.

Edit: https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/299913919

 

Explosion in the kitchen!

My new champagne bottle, full of elderflower champagne, just exploded!

Pieces of glass were fired 4 metres away into the next room! Fortunately, we were not sitting around the kitchen table having lunch (less than a metre from the bottle), as we had been just 30 minutes earlier.

The bottom of the bottle gave way, and we have spent 45 minutes mopping champagne mixed with fine shards of glass out of drawers, crockery, under kitchen units, around dog-beds....

I think we might have become lax at releasing the pressure in the bottles.

After mopping the floor, what did I do? Pour piping hot aubergine chutney into glass jars.

 

Powerful stuff isn't it...I only need one glass and I need to go to bed..