Elderflower Champagne and other Wild Floral Champagnes Recipe
Elderflower champagne
This recipe is adapted from Roger Phillips’ excellent book, “Wild Food”. If there is a tastier, more refreshing, easier to make summer drink than this, please let me know! All my guided walks kick off with a glass of this “efferv-essence of summer”!
Related Pages:
- Elderflowers
- Flowering Currant (which also makes a delicious spring champagne using this recipe)
- Sweet Cicely Champagne
Ingredients
- 10 – 16 Large elderflower heads in full bloom – if you can pick them on a sunny morning, so much the better. Shake them free of insects or other bits but don’t wash them. This recipe also works for meadowsweet, japanese rose, flowering currant, honeysuckle, mugwort, hawthorn blossom, sweet woodruff, sweet cicely and any other safe-to-eat aromatic blossom and/or leaf you care to try. You could also use a combination of different aromatics to reflect your locale. For subtler tasting plants, just scale up the quantity of plant material. If using dried elderflowers, I work to about 1 tablespoon of dried elderflowers = 1 good sized umbel of fresh elderflowers.
Safety Note: The leaves, stems (and berries) of elder can contain alkaloid compounds which can be poisonous to humans in high dosage. Read in depth about this here. Using whole umbels of elderflowers (green twigs and all) is entirely normal for this traditional recipe – the gentle cold infusion does not liberate significant amounts of alkoloid. I am perfectly happy to use whole umbels, but only you can decide what you are comfortable with: those of a nervous disposition may wish to remove the flowers from the umbels. The elderflowers themselves contain only trace quantities of the compound, so are perfectly safe for cold infusion, tinctures etc.
- 4.5 litres (1 gallon) cold water
- 1 Lemon – it’s juice plus it’s skin quartered. A really nice variation is to add 5 tablespoons of sea buckthorn juice instead. It gives a slightly tropical tang to the whole affair, though does leave some orange clouds.
- 650g (1.5lb) white(ish) sugar. I use organic golden granulated sugar.
- 3 tablespoons white wine or apple cider vinegar. I sometimes use infused vinegars to add further dimensions to the mix – pineapple weed vinegar adds a lovely tropical hint.
Method
- Dissolve the sugar in the water – it will help if you warm a little of the water, add the sugar, then allow it to cool before mixing with the remaining water.
- Mix you sweetened water with all the other ingredients in a large jug, bucket or basin.
- Leave covered for 4 days (preferably somewhere cool or you run the risk of the surface going mouldy – it isn’t a disaster if this happens: just scrape off the flowers that will have formed a “carpet” on the surface, and continue).
- Fine strain and pour into clean screw-top bottles – plastic fizzy drink bottles are ideal. Don’t use bottles with corks, as the pressure of fermentation will just push the corks out. You can use flip top glass bottles, but these make it harder to monitor pressure build-up in the bottle, and are considerably more hazardous than plastic bottles in the event that they do explode under the pressure of fermentation. Leaving a few inches of air in the bottles makes explosions a little less likely.
- Leave at an ambient temperature for 6 to 14 days, testing after 6 to make sure it doesn’t get too fizzy. This is where plastic bottles are really useful, as you can feel the pressure without opening them. If the dimples at the bottom begin to round out, you urgently need to release some pressure!
- Its quite important to check the bottles regularly as they will explode if you you forget about them. Most experienced wild champagne makers have an exploding bottle story! Its something of a foraging rites-of -passage. One foraging friend even boasts a scar near her eye from an exploding glass bottle. You’ve been warned!
- Once you feel the pressure building, gently unscrew the lid every few days to decompress. Be ready to quickly screw it back tight before you loose your precious liquid in a foamy fountain! Let off enough pressure to feel there is no imminent danger of explosion, which shouldn’t be all of the pressure. If you constantly depressurise, your champagne will become flat, so don’t get too nervous.
- If you are storing your champagne in a cool place it may need longer to get going, so be patient – the natural yeast in the flowers is doing the work and can take a wee while to get going.
The longer you leave it fermenting, the stronger it will be in alcohol. Once you are happy with it, keep it in the fridge to slow down fermentation. Once refrigerated the risk of explosion is vastly reduced, though you should still monitor pressure.
When is it ready to drink? That’s up to you. It is a living thing, evolving from light, low-alcohol drinking after a week of fermenting, to stronger, starting-to-get-vingary at about 5 or 6 weeks. For me, the sweet spot for drinking is between 2 and 4 weeks, but you can slow it right down by keeping it in the fridge once its to your liking.
Once you have opened a bottle and drunk some, you can re-seal the bottle and leave it to ferment back to full fizziness. This is quite unlikely, as its delicious and very more-ish!
Drink chilled on a sunny day with sunny friends.
It makes a good mixer for gin, and is great for topping up cocktails with a bit of fizz.
Elderflower Champagne Vinegar
If your champagne should ferment to the point where it loses effervescence and starts to become “vinegary”, you can turn it into a delicious elderflower vinegar by simply mixing it with some live vinegar (including some vinegar “mother”) and leaving in an open container covered with a cheese cloth (to keep out bugs) in a dark place for 2 to 3 months. After this point it should have reached a tart 3 – 4% – great for pickling next years green elder buds, or anything else you fancy.
Wild flower champagne infusing. Flowering currant and magnolia blossoms here, with a bit of sea buckthorn juice for acidity, and a tickle of wormwood for badass bitter backnotes.
Learn More:
- Drinker’s Guide to Elderflowers and elderberries
- Browse more wild booze recipes
- Wild Ideas from the Gin Deck
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80 Comments
Looks yummy, does it get naturally alcoholic? Must buy some jars, looks a little like moonshine in them jars! This has caught my attention, must make some!
Ours did, last years ferment is not vinegary, not too sweet and a perfect mixer for.vodka or gin
I originally made this from F.Marian McNeill’s Recipes from Scotland but lost the recipe when my son appropriated the book when he left home.
after trawling through loads of footery over-complicated recipes on the net I finally found yours…exactly as my original recipe.
Thank you so much.
My very great pleasure Celia. Enjoy! 🙂
I so can’t wait to try this! I’m just waiting in the blooms to appear!
That’s my 1st ever batch if elderflower champagne on the go, now to make some cordial too! Hope to see you when you are next up in this neck of the woods!
Excellent! I’m sure it will be delicious. Still looking at summer dates for Aberdeenshire, but definitely coming up for fungi forays in the autumn (see events calendar if you haven’t already booked!) Cheers, Mark
Do you really only need four heads? Does more increase the flavour? Thanks!
Hi, Yes, these proportions work. You can add more, but you’ll have to keep a close eye out for exploding bottles when the ferments starts to happen. Mark
ok cool! so no glass bottles then!
Hi Mark, I made some about 3 weeks ago, for the first time. Had a taste this week and unfortunately had to throw the whole lot out as it had a really strong vinegar flavour. Recipe same as above, only difference was I used 2 tablespoons of white wine viegar, it was really fizzy so don’t doubt that it fermented and smelt good. Any ideas on why it tasted so nasty? Cheers, Christine
Hi Christine, This can happen. Sometimes its to do with the time of picking, sometimes the individual plant (some have “odd” character – it is the witches tree remember!). Most often, its because its been left too long at warmer temperatures while fermenting. Sometimes the lemon can go off too when the weather is warm. Citric acid (from any homebrew suppliers) instead of lemon can help with this issue. Generally, when the weather is warm, I try to drink mine asap after it gets fizzy – or put in the fridge to slow fermentation.
Christine…I had this problem once…the only time a whole batch (rather than the odd bottle) weren’t top-notch in about ten years of making.
It came down to he fact that I didn’t take enough care sterilising the (glass) bottles I was using.
I use VWP now,but if you don’t like chemicals,a thorough wash then heating in an oven hen leaving to slowly cool will do the trick.
Hi this recipe sound great. How do you stop it from getting too fizzy? Once it is fizzy enough do you drink it or treat it somehow?
Thanks
Joe
Hi Joe,
See my other reply/comment elsewhere on this page for more info on this.
Cheers
Mark
How should this be stored once its fermented? Have made some, not tasted it yet, only on day 3!
In the fridge, in plastic fizzy drinks bottles. See my other comment on this.
Could you stand the jugs or bowls for the 4 days in cold water and keep adding ice? I am going to have a go at making this, first time ever making home brew.
Hi Rita,
No need – keep it simple. Warm (ambient) temperature helps the infusion/fermentation. If the flowers/lemon start to go mouldy, just skim them off asap, strain through a fine mesh and bottle. Still tastes/keeps fine. Alcohol production inhibits bacteria.
Cheers
Mark
Hi,
It says test after 6 days once it’s been bottled to make sure it doesn’t get too fizzy. What if it is too fizzy – do you put it in the fridge to stop it fermenting?
Hi Linda,
Its never “too fizzy” for drinking, its just the danger of the bottles exploding. Once the plastic bottles feel really taut (usually after about 1 week ambient in bottles), I unscrew to let the fizz off, tighten up again, and store in the fridge. Not only does this slow fermentation, it means you’ll see them every time you open the fridge and be reminded to check the pressure and let some off if necessary. Also, should one happen to “blow”, at least it is contained in your fridge!
Mark.
I was looking for information on the health properties of the elderflower and I found your website. …and since my family loves to make home-brews we’ll definitely be making an attempt at this elderflower champagne! Looks easy enough, which is partially what makes it so appealing. Also, if you say it’s the best summer drink, I’ll take your word for it.
(By the way, I love all the different words and ways of speech you folks use over there in Scotland!)
Mary, from Wisconsin
Thanks Mary, hope you enjoy it. I’m not aware of many health benefits of elderflowers, but the berries are full of vit C and antioxidants I believe. The foliage and twigs of elder are toxic, so nothing will be very good for you if you don’t remove a good proportion of them – though i’m not super-fastidious and have come to no harm!
Great recipe!! I substituted for cherry blossoms! And it worked a treat!! Thanks for the recipe mark and the amazing foraging trip in roseland!
Jodie
Have just strained and bottled my first batch. Taste is magnificent already! Can’t wait for unveiling in a few days once fizz has happened. I’m a bit of an anti-plastics person, so have opted for used screw top carbonated water and wine bottles. I’ll let you know how that works out.
I’d like to try other flowers as well. Any suggestions? Do all flowers naturally contain yeasts? Where can I read up yeast content in flowers? Thanking you in advance.
Most flowers will work, but with different results according to when and where you pick them. Sweet cicely makes a nice anise-based fizz.
Thank you very much for getting back to me. I will look for it as I’m not sure it grows where I live.
And, just in case it isn’t obvious — I’m brimming over with gratitude.
Thank you so much for the wonderful site full of inspiration!
Cheers.
Hi there, fab recipe! How long can you keep this? Would it keep for several months? Thank you, Sarah
Best drunk in about 6 weeks. The longer you leave it, the stronger it gets.
Have made a batch about a week ago but not there’s little white cloudy clumps in the bottles. There’s still no fizz in the drinks. Is this batch ok?
Thanks
Linda
Cloudy lumps are normal – this is yeast & solids coagulating. I guess it may be fizzing by now.
Hi Mark,
Do you need to sterilise the plastic bottles?
If so,how do you go about doing this?
Thanks,Alex
No, just good rinse out.
Hello there
Can you tell me, how long this keeps for. Thank you
Best drunk between 3 and 6 weeks.
Hi,
When first bottling if i use plastic bottles can i later put into propper Champagne bottles? or should I go with the Champagne bottles from the start.
You can go with champagne bottles, but be very aware of the ongoing fermentation. The plastic bottles can be “burped”, but champagne bottles not so easily – and if they explode consequences can be serious!
Hello, Can you dry the elderflowers by just hanging them, to use later? Thanks Des
Hi Des, Yes – in a warm, airy place. I’d recommend doing it in paper bags, or over a container in order to catch the pollen.
Hi Mark,
Would this be achievable with a dehydrator?
My partner and I have just finished our first batch and are completely hooked! Just looking to stock up if possible as we’re surrounded by more elder than anyone could physically use!
Yes, elderflowers dry well and still make good champagne. Keep the temperature as low as practicable while dehydrating, or place the umbels on newspaper (so you catch the pollen etc) in sunny windowsills. Remember that every flower you pick is an elderberry you can’t pick in autumn, and that humans are not the only species that appreciates the abundant generosity of elders! 🙂
Just bottled my very first batch using the pink Elderflower… I just upped the number of heads and used 6 instead of 4.. (The pink flowering type seems to be less dense than the white, so I thought I should add a couple more…) So far – so good!! Even at this early stage it tastes gorgeous…
Wonderful! We have loads of elderflowers right now and have always wanted to try making something like this. Thank you for the recipe and for patiently answering so many questions in the comments. 🙂 <3
Mark,
I would rather use glass bottles because of the chemical leaching issue from plastic…..what would you recommend to reduce the chance of explosion? Open more often to release pressure or fill the bottle less for expansion room?
Maybe a bit of both?
Hi Mark, there’s the slightest sign of mould (small blue dots) before bottling. Is it worth the risk of continuing?
Great recipe! Second batch this season.
Cheers
Dan
Sorry, only just picked up this comment. Yes, it can be rescued – filter as per instructions and bottle, and all should be fine.
Hi Mark, we’ve made this using flowering currant. When we burp the bottles it smells very strongly of farts – have you had this? It’s very fizzy, and tastes ok, but it’s not the flowery bouquet we hoped for, I wonder if we used too many flowers…?
Hmmm… burping the bottles can be a bit farty, but more of a CO2 rush than anything. Maybe too many flowers, or did they go mouldy before you strained them perhaps..? :/
Hello Mark,
I made the champagne 5 days ago and bottled it 3 days ago i forgot to burp them and when i did today most of the liquid came out. I opened them in the same large tub that I used initially. shall i leave it in the tub for a few more days then try bottling again, or sterilize the bottles and re fill?
Ah, yes, this happens. Burping, as you have discovered, has to be a quick release and even quicker screwing back on of the bottle lid. All you are doing is releasing potentially explosive pressure, not all of it. At least you captured the escapee! I’d just funnel it gently back into the bottle and continue the process, burping more carefully. Feels funny talking about “careful burping”!! 😉
Would a demijohn with an airlock work instead of plastic bottles to save the burping process? Then transfer to glass bottles if not using plastic?
It would, but you would end up with wine, not fizz. At least some of the fermentation needs to occur in an airtight container to keep the fizz. Burping the bottles keeps pressure at safe levels, but an airlock would allow it to continuously escape.
Hi Mark
Do I need to wait for signs of fermentation before straining and bottling? I’m on day 3 since mixing all together and no signs of any activity yet.
Thanks!
Not especially – 4 days is plenty at summer temperatures. Fermentation will kick off in the bottles.
Do you know if you can freeze elderflowers and will they still make good champagne, Mark. It would be nice to have some for making it later in the year. Thanks
I’ve never tried freezing elderflowers. But they definitely dry well. Dry the umbels on newspaper so you catch all the pollen and wild yeasts etc too. I regularly use dried elderflowers for this recipe. Roughly 1 tablespoon of dried flowers = 1 fresh umbel.
Hi! I have signs of pink mould on the top of some of my bottles. I washed and baked all of the bottles first before straining and bottling. Can I still demo it or do I need to reprocess or chuck?
Some coagulation of yeasts is normal, and this can look like mould. In plastic bottles this can be spurted out with a quick squeeze once carefully opened for serving. Or skimmed off perhaps. Its harmless, and doesn’t affect the flavour – just doesn’t look so nice. If it is actual mould, perhaps you steeped in the plant material for too long. May as well let it fizz up and have a taste – you never know…
Thanks again for the free sharing of these recipes and advice Mark.
Just need to pick me up some more sugar this eve and get to it 🙂
Shame I only just read your dry morning picking comments, a little late, but will try this batch and maybe collect some more before they pass by, on that advice, for comparison. The largely disused industrial estate behind me has so many elders.
Great recipie. I found a similar recipie with 1lb Honey instead of 1.5lb sugar. the recipie warmed it would take longer to start fermenting but the final results were good.
I’m in the same situation as Cat, today is the 3rd day and it all looks docile with no sign of fermentation. The kitchen is around 20-25 degrees centigrade on daytime temperature, with warm nights. My question to you, Mark, is: Have you yourself bottled up with regular success, when the brew hasn’t shown ‘working’ signs. And would you bottle tomorrow, the 4th day at the room temps I mention.
Fermentation happens mostly in the bottles. I’d bottle after 4 days. Some are livelier than others. I’ve got some mixed flower champagnes on the go just now which have taken the best part of two weeks to start building pressure in the bottle. Its not an exact science. I’m sure it will get there in the end though.
Cheers
Mark.
It was done a few days ago Mark. And you nailed it, pressure was building in the bottles after only 2/3 hours. In fact I have released pressure twice now, and this morning the plastic bottles are very hard again. I thought this time to leave them be, would you recommend letting them go the course now?
Once they are fermenting that vigorously, I usually keep them in the fridge to slow fermentation and hold them at a nice (and safe) balance between sweetness, alcohol content and fizz.
Hi Mark, I’ve got 8 litres fermenting right now. I’m having to burp the bottles several times per day and when the gasses escape it smells quite strongly of sulfur! Is there anything I can do to remedy this as I don’t want to have to throw it all away. Thanks.
If you are burping it twice a day, i’d say it was time to move it to the fridge, slow it down. And get drinking!
Hi Mark,
I hope you are well. I made this recipe and I’m at the stage where Champagne is fermenting in a combination of glass jars and one plastic bottle, which is enabling me to determine when all of the vessels need to be burped – Just an idea in case there are people out there who don’t want to purchase too many plastic bottles. My actual reason for getting in touch however, is that I am wondering if it is normal to get sediment at the bottom of the jars/bottles? I had to improvise on the cheesecloth front and used a clean bed pillow instead – wondering if that’s part of the problem.
Good tip! Not sure why you’d be getting sediment. Sometimes the yeasts clump together to make a sort of “ectoplasm”! its harmless but looks unappetising – get rid of it this by pouring carefully, or squeeze the (plastic) bottle outside or over a sink before pouring to swoosh it out.
I have 4 litres on the go, fizzing gently. I just wondered why vinegar is added to the recipe? I’ve made a few country wines and always trying to avoid making vinegar! So it seems odd to deliberately add it.
The vinegar helps with acidity, and in getting the fermentation going (I think). You could certainly omit, and/or use more lemon juice or other acidifier.
Hi Mark! I’ve had reasonable success with this recipe, thanks for sharing it. My elderflower champagne is nice and fizzy, tastes delicious and is happy sitting in the plastic bottles in the cupboard just now, burped every so often. But, having been drinking it occasionally over the summer it is definitely not alcoholic! Nothing, nada…. What have I done wrong? Its delicious and is good on its own as a refreshing fizzy drink or as a mixer though.
If it has gone fizzy, I think it must have produced some alcohol too. Leave it to ferment more? Add vodka!?
Hi Mark. I made some meadowsweet champagne inspired by a foraging day with you at the beginning of August. It’s such a delicious flavour, thanks for passing on the recipe! I just need to make more next year, it went far too quickly
Hi, I’ve just gotten going with this with late summer honeysuckle. I haven’t tasted it yet, but assuming it’s gone well, are there any winter/nonseasonal botanicals you’d recommend using for this recipe? Perhaps a conifer? I foresee a long, cold, dark pandemic ahead and foraging/cooking has really helped, so I like having projects like this on the go.
Yes – fir is delicious, but needs bruising pre infusion. Wood avens root. Angelica root/seeds. All interesting, but perhaps better suited to mead making see here:
Can bruise, will travel! I tried my hand at mead in the spring. Turns out either I’m not a fan of mead, or the risk of terrible kombucha production is too high for me to risk it. This recipe worked a treat, though I’ve since learned j used himalayan balsam and not honeysuckle. Oops on the ID but tasty on the drinking!
Just made my first champagne from your recipe – thrilling, delicious & can’t wait to do the next one! But my 15yo (who won’t touch any of mum’s ‘wild’ stuff) came home and said something about when they were studying yeast & fermentation in biology there was something about alcohol fermentation going wrong and seriously poisoning you. I guess the worry is botulism from whatever plant you add. You say to add lemon juice which I think makes botulism unlikely. Would quite like to go back to my son with a clearer picture and a fair response. Might that be it?
PS: Now dad is lary of trying some for a different reason: methanol. Elder & explosions aside, are there any chemical / bacterial dangers in making champagne this way?