Make elderberry tea yourself - DIY cold tea

• Collect elderflower
• Elderflower dried or fresh
  • The drying of elderflowers
• Prepare elderflower tea

When the next cold kicks in and the throat scrapes, elderflower tea is an effective home remedy. The white flowers of the elderberry are almost miraculously boiled and, on top of that, are still delicious. Whether dried or fresh, elderflower contains important and healthy ingredients. In this guide we will show you how quickly you can make elderberry tea yourself.

Increase your defenses with self-brewed elderflower tea. The flavonoids and tannins contained in the plant, as well as the fragrant, essential oils act sweat-inducing. A cup at bedtime lets you sleep well and boosts your immune system at the same time.

Collect elderflower

In early summer, the elder has its heyday and should therefore be harvested between the beginning of June and the end of July. Preferably, collection should take place on dry days so that the pollen has not just been washed off. Pick and use only the white umbels and avoid using green stems. These can cause one or the other gastrointestinal discomfort.

In June you can see the large, white umbels of the elderberry almost everywhere, also often in the city. However, these plants are constantly exposed to high levels of pollution and should not be picked for consumption. Use elderflowers that grow in quiet forest or in the park.

Elderflower dried or fresh

You can use both dried and fresh flowers for an elderflower tea. Of course, drying takes a little more time, but this tea is ultimately more intense in taste. On the fly, fresh flowers are better suited.

The drying of elderflowers

Free the flowers of small animals by simply shaking them off.

Note: Do not wash the flowers. So the drying process would take much longer and important flavors would be washed out.

Now spread the collected umbels on kitchen paper - the green stems are all removed. Make sure all moisture has been dabbed well, otherwise the flowers may become moldy. Spread the flowers in a wide spread next to each other and not on top of each other on the paper.

Then leave them in an airy, shady place.

Tip: If you want to go a little faster, you can also dry elderflower in the oven at 30 ° C.

The flowers are completely dried when they almost fall off the stem themselves. When this moment is reached, put the flowers in a dark, closable container. Keep this protected from light. So the essential oils are well preserved.

Prepare elderflower tea

Now the elderflower tea is being prepared. It does not need much more for that:

For each cup, take 3 to 4 g of elderflower, dried or fresh, and pour it with hot water. For a normal cup size that's about 12g per liter.

If the flowers together with the hot water in a jug or a pot should this 5 - 10 minutes pull. Cover the mixture to keep all the fumes and oils in the tea.

Ultimately, the flowers only have to be sieved off. Done is the healthy elderflower tea!

Refine the tea with orange slices or honey and your cold does not stand a chance!

If you would like to use the elderflower as a syrup, for example in lemonades or to refine sparkling wine and prosecco, this guide might be of interest to you. How to prepare homemade elderflower syrup - perfect for the summer: //www.zhonyingli.com/holunderbluetensirup-selber-machen/