VIDEO: Make elderflower tea yourself

Nature has many health-promoting plants in store. Black elderberry (Sambucus), also called elderberry or lilacberry, is one of them. One made from elderflower tea helps with colds, has an antipyretic and detoxifying effect. Many good reasons to have elderflower tea in the house. You can buy the finished tea in the pharmacy or drugstore or make it yourself from collected flower umbels.

Collect elderflower

The ideal time to collect elderflower is on a dry day in June or July. Then the wood (elderberry tree) is in full bloom and all the buds are open. Blooming elder gives off a wonderfully intense scent. Wait until the morning dew has evaporated before harvesting - the cones should be as dry as possible.

Elderberry trees are also found in the wild. When collecting flowers from free-growing plants, look away from roads. The flowers absorb toxins from car exhaust.

Cut the entire umbels directly from the tree and place them loosely in a basket. When collecting medicinal herbs of any kind, you must never use plastic bags. Due to a lack of air, plants wither in a very short time and lose their active ingredients.

Dry flowers

1. Clean the flower umbelsThe collected flowers are not washed. You can remove possible vermin by vigorously shaking the cones. Before you can prepare elderflower tea, you need to dry the flowers. To do this, place the entire inflorescences next to each other on kitchen paper in an airy, shady place. Exposure to the sun deprives the petals of active ingredients.

   



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2. The flowers dry. If elder flowers dry too slowly, they lose their active ingredients. Especially in damp weather, dry them in the oven on a baking sheet at around 30 degrees. The cones lie next to each other when drying and must be turned over regularly.

   

You can tell that the flowers are sufficiently dried by the fact that they fall off the stems almost by themselves. Keep the dried elderflower petals protected from light in a dark, well-sealable container.

Prepare elderflower tea

1. Prepare the infusion. Give them about 70 degrees hot water into a cup and stir in two to three teaspoons of the dried elderflower.

   

2. To let go. Let the infusion stand covered, for example with a saucer, for five to eight minutes. In this way, the essential oils of the flowers do not evaporate and the tea stays hot.

   

3. SweatyIf you want elderflower tea to make you sweat, pour boiling water and let it steep for ten minutes.

   

Sweeten the tea to taste honey.

Medicinal effects of the elderberry

• stimulates kidney activity and thus has a detoxifying effect
• strengthens the immune system
• sweaty and fever-reducing
• helps with colds and flu-like infections
• gentle help with sleep disorders, anxiety and depression
• easy digestive (tea made from dried elderberries)

To treat your symptoms, drink four cups of freshly made elderberry tea a day. If you have trouble sleeping, you should drink the tea in the evening.