This elderberry tincture post is starting out as a difficult one to write for some reason. I want to communicate what I am thinking about self-sufficiency, but know I am a long way away myself. This is to encourage us all in doing anything we can to be more homegrown in our outlook.
As a society we have gone outside the home for most of what we need and want in our lives.
Food, music, health care, clothing. It’s all acquired from outside of our family and our community. So what happens when we make music in the evening, grow some of our own food, and make some of our own medicine?
On so many levels, these things awaken us.
To mix homemade and homegrown into as much of our lives as possible – even in the littlest things – can change so much.
The flowers before the berries.
Ever since I heard the Israelis had been researching elderberries and found that these berries can prevent or shorten the duration of Influenza A and B, I have had a passion to grow and make a simple tincture~ to make my own medicine.
Next to chewing up a plantain leaf and using it on a bug bite or bee sting, this is as simple as it gets.
The elderberries are coming ripe in September, and the procedure is as basic as can be. You really only need to be certain of your plant identification before you proceed, and you’re good.
(Also don’t eat raw elderberries as they can cause nausea and vomiting. You must cook them first or make an elderberry tincture.)
ORAC value one of the highest in nature
The ORAC value is one measure food scientists use to calculate the ability of the elderberry to fight free radical cells that cause cancer, making it a highly desirable food to grow.
(source)
Get the free printable Elderberry Recipes PDF!
Making Elderberry Tincture
The berries should be their ripest and almost black.
1.) Locate or plant your own bushes as we did:
Find a site with wild elderberries (sambucus ssp.) or grow your own. Growing elderberries is not all that difficult.
A few things to remember when growing your own:
They can tolerate different conditions like soil that is in poor condition or soil that is too wet. One thing growing elderberries cannot tolerate, however, is drought.
When planting elderberry bushes, you should note that the berries will grow on the bushes the first year you plant them. But the berries will do better the second year.
Elderberry planting is done best in well-drained loamy soil, so add a few inches of organic matter to sandy soils. When planting, make sure to allow for cross-pollination. Therefore, two or more cultivars should be planted near each other allowing for necessary cross pollination.
A 6-7 foot spacing works out well, and give them room as they will spread if happy where they are.
We purchased our 2 plants from Edible Landscape.com (1 Adams and 1 Johns).
Since most don’t have these growing in the backyard, you can also purchase organic dried elderberries online at The Bulk Herb Store or Amazon.
Identify first if you are in the wild: see this 2:20 minute video
Note: If you are using purchased, dried elderberries, skip to Step 4b!
2.) Harvest:
Pick your elderberries just below the umbrels (umbrella-shaped berry clusters). The fresh clusters snap off with ease. Gather the ripest, almost black berry clusters. Take a zip-lock freezer bag(s) and gather them in that.
3.) Freeze:
When you have a bag-full, take the berries home and pop them into the freezer. When frozen (2 days best), the berries will tend to pop off easily from the stems with a little help from your fingers. You may decide to skip this part and separate them while fresh. It takes a bit longer.
4.) Separate:
Crumble the berries off of the stems into a bowl, wash, rinse, and transfer to a quart jar. Fill the jar with berries to halfway or over. Allow to thaw. You can mash them a bit if you wish.
- With fresh or frozen elderberries, add them to the jar to halfway or just over half.
- With purchased, dried elderberries, add them to the jar to 35% – 40% full.
5.) Steeping:
Cover to an inch or two from the top of the jar with brandy or vodka. It must be 80 proof or above to extract the medicinal qualities and preserve it. Use a tight-fitting lid, label, and tuck away in a kitchen cabinet for 4 – 6 months where you see it every other day. Gently shake every time you see it.
6.) Bottling Elderberry Tincture:
After sufficient time (4 months minimum to extract all the active compounds) to extract the vital components that make elderberry so desirable for flu, strain the liquid and denatured berries through a stainless steel colander lined with thin cloth or cheesecloth.
7.) Store Elderberry Tincture
Store elderberry tincture in amber dropper bottles or glass jars in your pantry. It will keep for many years.
A dear friend saved me her old bottles. I’ve recycled them cleaning them in the DW.
Get the free printable Elderberry Recipes PDF!
Elderberry Tincture Dosage:
For adults, mix 1/4 tsp. (or 20 drops from a dropper) of the finished tincture into an 6-8 oz. glass of water, and take it three times a day at the first sign of flu or a cold. It’s got sort of a tangy berry flavor…like raspberries, but more tangy.
DOSAGES FOR ALL AGES FOUND HERE.
The water can be hot or cold, but we really like it mixed into a steaming mug of hot water (if you are concerned, much (but not all) of the alcohol will evaporate off when hot)...besides, if you’re getting sick, or think you are, there’s nothing like a steaming mug of anything!
So I hope you’ll become gradually more homegrown in our outlook. In what ways are you working on becoming more sustainable and less dependent?
I am not a doctor, and do not share this as medical advice, but using elderberry as medicine is something that has been practiced for hundreds of years. Both Pliny the Elder and Hippocrates mentioned and recommended elderberry as a medicinal herb in their writings.
Pliny the ‘Elder’ (berry)
“And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food.” ~Genesis 1 :29
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Thanks for reading!
Barb S. says
August 19, 2011 at 7:03 amI completely understand Jacque. I too, have a desire for more self-sufficiency, but I have so much to learn and feel I am so far away from getting there. The garden is not doing well. Tomato plants seem to be done yielding. Most of the herbs didn’t grow at all. Still hoping to get a late harvest on some of the others. After all the work we put into this square foot garden, I admit to being very disappointed. [sigh] Great post, dear. Would LOVE to do this! Good for colds and flu, yes? I might have to find me some berries! Any idea where to get fresh ones?
bev says
August 17, 2012 at 10:51 pmthey are usually by a stream or lake is where they grow here in the foothills. I live in the Sierras on the eastern side they are so good
Jennifer Price says
August 19, 2011 at 8:04 amThanks for this post!
Elderberries grown pretty abundantly here in the mountains and last year (besides chokecherries) it was one of the first ‘self-sufficient’ things I stepped out in ‘the wild’.
We made a syrup from packages of 1 cup frozen berries when we needed it throughout the winter, but I really like the idea of a tincture. I’ve never made one and, as always, appreciate your precise instructions 🙂
amanda says
August 19, 2011 at 6:41 pmDo you think this must be made in an alcohol base or do you think you can use a glycerin base instead?
Thanks,
Amanda
Jacqueline says
August 20, 2011 at 9:42 amHello, dear Amanda,
To the best of my knowledge, a glycerin base would not ‘keep’ very long at all w/o a preservative. I will look into this, and if you find anything (recipe idea), let me know, too. The underlying reason for vodka is because it takes the elderberry directly to the liver, but it is so little in a tincture (alcoholics have liver damaged from EXCESS alcohol). The immune systems center is (after the GI tract) the liver. Getting the elderberry there is the idea. I don’t know where I read that…
TTYL, J
Luisa says
August 20, 2011 at 4:44 amI was just thinking about that a while ago. I mean, my mother used to sew; I can’t even seem to mend my own. She cooks as no one else and I can’t cook – I’m to telling people I “manage to survive” on the kitchen, but that’s about it.
Loved the post. Maybe you could come visit me too, if you got the time. Have a nice day 😛
Liz says
August 27, 2011 at 5:49 amThank you for sharing this. When I lived in the mountains this was a staple for me to make. Now I have a hard time finding elderberries. Your post has inspired me to start looking again, or buy some online. It really does help keep flu and colds at bay.
I found you through Raising Homemakers link up.
Mary@The Encouraging Home says
November 21, 2011 at 2:24 amWhat a wonderful post!! Thanks for sharing. We have always taken Sambucol but would love to make it!
Mary says
May 10, 2012 at 8:26 amYou mention that the elderberries should not be used raw. The instructions for the tincture mention gathering, freezing, then going straight into jars. When and how do you convert them from “raw”?
I am a fan of elderberry. Last winter I had a bad case of laryngitis. A friend suggested that elderberry might help. I had juice canned so I opened a quart, diluted it with a little water and sweetened with stevia. My husband noticed an improvement in my voice after the first glass. I finished the quart and my laryngitis was gone and hasn’t returned.
Thanks for your post, Mary
Jacqueline says
May 10, 2012 at 1:12 pmHi, Mary,
I hope I haven’t muddied the waters unintentionally. By don’t ‘use raw’ I mean to not just pop them into your mouth raw, but taking them straight into the vodka is the very best way to extract the phyto-chemicals God put into them. Freezing is just a simple way of getting the berries off the stems w/o too much fuss. I will go to the post and see if I can re-word it better. Thanks for your question…and Yes, we found the tincture to be invaluable this winter. Over and over, it did the job for all of us at one time or another 🙂 I hope that helps.
Mary says
May 10, 2012 at 2:51 pmThanks for the clarification. I will try the “freeze then remove the berries” trick this season. It is always a chore to separate the berry from the stem.
marjo says
July 20, 2012 at 10:02 amhello
thank you for this wonderful site, i was wondering if i could use apple cider vinegar instead of alcohol, thank you 🙂
Jacqueline says
July 20, 2012 at 12:34 pmMarjo,
I have read that you can make a tincture with vinegar. I am sharing this link from the bulk herb store about it: http://www.bulkherbstore.com/preparing-remedies/#a_aid=deeprootsathome
I’d love to know what you do and how it works for you!!
wildcraft diva says
July 26, 2012 at 4:51 pmI have included a photo and link to this in my list “What to do with Elderberries”.
Hope that’s ok with you?
Great post, thanks for sharing.
Jacqueline says
July 26, 2012 at 6:59 pmI am so glad you found it helpful! I’m fine with sharing anything with a link-back. Thanks for the visit and comment 🙂
Blessings,
Jacqueline
richard says
August 17, 2012 at 7:29 pmHave been told to make your tincure on a full moon then after 21 days, strain out any bulk pieces. After time you can add more ( whatever you use – seed/ root) to make it stronger if needed.
JEdwards says
August 19, 2012 at 5:15 pmcan you use gin as opposed to vodka?
Jacqueline says
August 19, 2012 at 8:02 pmHello, JEdwards ,
I found a good link for you that speaks to your question. I am writing a new post on elderberry tincture today, as I write 🙂 http://www.wildroots.com/herbal.htm I hope this helps.
Mary Brown says
September 5, 2012 at 11:54 amCan you make Tincture from dried elderberries?
I enjoyed meeting you briefly at Hope Baptist Church in Wake Forest a couple of weeks ago.
Mary Brown
Mary Brown says
September 5, 2012 at 11:57 amCan you make tincture from dried elderberries?
Mary Brown
Jacqueline says
September 5, 2012 at 2:12 pmOh, yes, Mary! You can! Dried, fresh, or frozen all work equally well for making the tincture.
Blessings to you !!
Tina Hoffman says
October 21, 2017 at 11:50 pmI used fresh elderberrys in a quart jar then covered them with Vodka, I opened the jar and tried some at 4 weeks, yuk It tasted like vinegar. Is that normal? I make Jelly, syrup and juice some and put it in ice cube trays for Elderberry and Rosehip tea in the winter.
Jacqueline says
October 22, 2017 at 7:01 amTina, I have not ever made it with fresh berries, only with dried, so I haven’t any experience with it that way. 🙁 No, I don’t think it’s normal, though! It always made me sad when I had a fail, too, but we keep learning and trying…
I do like your idea to use it in ice cube trays for tea!! Enjoy and stay well!
Tina Hoffman says
October 23, 2017 at 5:24 pmThank you
Peggy says
September 15, 2012 at 7:55 pmI too have a great desire to learn more about nature’s medicines and how to make them. I have made the tinture you describe and I just take a teaspoon every day for overall good health. Didn’t catch any kind of “bug” until I ran out of tinture. I am now making a new batch. I am lucky to be able to harvest the berries in the wild in New Mexico, but I know Natural Grocery Store also has the dried berries.
Samantha says
January 21, 2013 at 11:04 amI know that this is from a few months ago, but I was hoping someone could point me to where Elderberries would be found growing wild in NM. I realize they won’t be ready until later in the year but would like to plan ahead…
Jacqueline says
January 21, 2013 at 12:57 pmHi, Samantha,
I did find something here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sambucus under species group (near bottom of that section). Hope that helps and good luck!
Samantha Lucas says
July 24, 2013 at 5:40 pmThank you for your response . Blessings to you and yours.
Tammy says
September 17, 2012 at 1:03 pmThanks, this is great, I have a bush growing in my yard that was a “donation”, I did not plant it. I found a cute plant growing in my flowers and decided to let it grow and waaaalaaa, I have an Elderberry bush ( I think the birds planted it) I remember my baby sitter making things from them. I will make some of this and the syrup that you have up also… I do eat them from the bush, but never more than 2 or 3 at a time.
Jan Hunnicutt says
December 3, 2012 at 3:34 pmThank you for your wonderful blog post a beautiful pictures!
I followed your directions and made Elderberry Syrup today and it turned out great, my husband said he’s looking forward to cold and flu season because it tastes good =)
I’m also learning how to become more self sufficient and loving it!
davi says
April 17, 2013 at 9:37 amHi
Thanks for the reply, very thankful what you are doing
we are in the flue season here just about all my kids got it !!!
I was wondering can I make tincture with dry Elderberries?
And is there a certain amount we have to use on dry berries?
Thanks again keep up the good work
Jacqueline says
April 17, 2013 at 5:51 pmYes, you can! Here are good directions and they say fill your jar with 1/3 dried herbs and top with vodka: http://www.bulkherbstore.com/articles/tincture-making-made-simple#a_aid=deeprootsathome
I hope this is helpful !
Brenda says
June 2, 2013 at 6:50 pmThank you so much for giving step by step instructions on how to the tintures..I bought 3- Elderberry plants last few months and they are already loaded with what will be a bountiful harvest.I bought them for their medicinal uses.
Jacqueline says
June 2, 2013 at 8:59 pmYay! Brenda, I am excited for you, and now you have some options: you can let the birds finish off what you don’t use, you can give away or sell the berries at a farmer’s market (we sell them by the gallon bag-still on stems), or you can even dig up the suckers with roots and sell plants if you’ve a mind to! Blessings~ and have fun!!
Isara says
June 26, 2013 at 12:19 amHave you found any uses for the elderberries once they have been strained from the Vodka? I keep thinking that I should not waste them … or that they can be soaked again? Any recipes, any ideas?! Waste not, want not! Thanks, in advance, for your time and answer.
Jacqueline says
June 26, 2013 at 7:15 amGood morning, Isara!
I wouold compost them, but they are vodka soaked and would be harmful to the microbiology of my soil. I can’t think of anything else 🙁 If you would, let me know if you hear of a good use 🙂 Blessings to you and yours!
jonathan says
August 13, 2014 at 2:51 amis fresh elderberry’s better to use when making a tincture then dried or is there a difference
Jacqueline says
August 13, 2014 at 8:44 amGood question! I always like fresh best, but honestly have not researched it.
Linda says
September 8, 2014 at 3:55 pmI had about 60 lbs. of berries which I steamed and got the juice. I still have the pulp that has residual juice in it. Will this work for tincture or do I need to get more raw? I think I can use the pulp for wine/brandy/cordial/liqueur. Your thoughts? Thank you,
Linda
Jacqueline says
September 10, 2014 at 12:20 pmSorry to answer this so late, Linda. We just returned for a wedding and 2 day getaway.
You could use the pulp, but it wouldn’t be a strong tincture. Fresh or dried is best, because the heat tends to destroy some (but not all) of the active components that make elderberry tincture so powerful. Hope that helps 🙂
Many blessings!
Tiffany says
October 3, 2014 at 1:13 pmHi!
I appreciate your blog and was so blessed reading your life story. God truly has more Grace than we have sin!
My question is about the double E tincture. I have mine brewing in vodka right now, and it will be ready in just a couple weeks. I understood from this post that an adult serving is [3 times a day] 1/4 t. in water. What would the dosage be for small children? Mine are all under 4.
Thank you!
Jacqueline says
October 3, 2014 at 2:03 pmHi, Tiffany,
I am not advising you, but we used it at half of that (10-15 drops) 3 times a day at the first sign of a bug or cold…even a slightly scratchy throat or sniffle. Worked powerfully and safely for us. Taking with or without food is fine.
I’m glad you are making it. We wouldn’t be without it. Our son just got married and it is one of the first things he and his wife made together 🙂 I think that says it all!!
Blessings 🙂
Jennifer says
October 5, 2014 at 6:24 am‘As a society we have gone outside the home for most of what we need and want in our lives.’ So true and such a beautiful and soulful phrase!
I had missed the fresh berries as focussed on brambles and nettles, then today, clumps and clumps of dried elderberries revealed themselves to me from the hedgerow. Sun dried amongst the hawthorn and other wild plants. A perfect moment of receiving though grace everything that is required!
Jacqueline says
October 5, 2014 at 11:17 amOh, Jennifer, I am so thoroughly blessed by your sharing this with me. Isn’t our Lord GoooooooD!
Have a blessed day of rest and praise, friend. Thank you!
Sue says
October 26, 2015 at 7:56 amI was wondering if anyone has ever used the dryer berries left on the bushes to make their tinctures or syrup – we have several bushes and loads of dried berries – I made 2 batches of syrup from fresh berries and my granddaughter loves it so much I’m down to only 2 bottles ( a little frightening since the cold season is just beginning) . Is it possible to harvest the dryer berries and make either the tincture or syrup from those – an
y information would be greatly appreciated. Thank you and God bless
Sue
Jacqueline says
October 26, 2015 at 9:14 amYes, Sue,
If there is no evidence of mold. Also, wash them thoroughly with vinegar or a simple Castile soap – nothing antibacterial or handsoap – to remove any bird droppings, etc. Pat them dry to remove excess water. I think if they are clearly free of mold, they should be fine. Enjoy 🙂
Lesha Maisonave says
November 14, 2016 at 9:48 pmI have been sick from virus and colds for the last 2 months with a week break inbetween. I just made some elderberry syrup. I am curious to see how well this helps me with my immune system. I currently have a sore throat. I will keep you posted on this new journey of natural remedies.
Also, after you added alcohol or vinegar how soon can you start to use the syrup? How long does it preserve without any alcohol in it?
Jacqueline says
November 16, 2016 at 11:12 amLesha, I am sorry to hear of your illness, friend. Viruses are hard to kill once they get a foothold, but if you start elderberry very early once you notice you are getting sick, it can really turn the tide. However, if you are starting once the viral infection has spread, it might not help much or at all. The amount of infection may be overwhelming and it will need to run its course. If you are steeping the elderberries in vodka or vinegar, they need to sit for weeks (usually not less than 4) to extract the antiviral properties of the elderberries. Vinegar won’t last on the shelf as long as vodka (vodka: 6-10 years) – I have not used vinegar so I could only guess and I’d probably be wrong. Here is a post that might help: http://gwens-nest.com/elderberry-recipes/
If you are wanting real help fast because you don’t have time to make it, I have ordered this before I made my own and it was FABULOUS!: http://amzn.to/2fWiXQB