Elderflower Champagne

This summer beauty is perfect for Bar-B-Q's and long hot summer days so get your pruning scissors out and start chopping those summer blooms! The flowers should be cut on a sunny day to get them in the best condition and should smell like sweet summer nectar and not like dog widdle, which means they're probably past their best.
Dusting the back of your hand with the tiny blooms should leave you with a haze of golden pollen which indicate that they are in optimum condition, so get busy with the pruners.

You'll need about 13-15 flower heads which should yeild about a pint of flowers and should'nt take too long to gather.

Removing the flowers is quite simple by using a fork to rip the flower heads from the wiry stems. Alternatively you can leave the stems in an air filled bin bag for 24 hours. Just fill the bag with air and tie an knot in the open ends.
Give the bag a good shake after about 24hours and youll be left with the stems cleanly separated from the flowers. Simples!

Ingredients

• 1pt of Elderflowers
• About 1kg of sugar
• 1tsp of yeast (bakers will do)
• 2 Lemons (juice and zest)
• 2 Tablespoons of vinegar

Method.

1. Add the flowers to a fermenting vessel (a bucket or 5litre plastic water bottle is fine)
2. Melt the sugar into a about a litre of water and add the lemon juice and zest, you neednt boil it as it may melt your water bottle but your bin or bucket should be fine.
3. Pour the water infusion over the flowers and stir until mixed.
4. Fill your bin/bucket/bottle upto about 5 litres and add the vinegar and yeast and cover with a clean tea towel or if you have a bung and airlock put them into your bottle.
5. Keep in a warm place (kitchen/airing cupboard) and stir/agitate daily for a week
6. You should see some yeast action with hours but if not add another teaspoon of yeast.
7. After a week strain the brew through a seive to remove the flowers, but try an leave the "lees" (yeast mud in the base of your bin) behind.
8. You can sweeten your brew with artificial sweetner as this is non fermentable. Dont use sugar as the remaining yeast will consume it.
9. Bottle the brew into P.E.T bottles (old pop bottles) and add a tsp of sugar (the real kind) per 500ml of brew. This will feed the yeast to create more Co2 and carbonate your drink.
10. Check your bottles daily to see if they are stiff with Co2. The bottles should "ping" when tapped.

Your drink should be ready after a week so kick back, enjoy the summer and pour your hard work down your neck.