- Prep time: 10 minutes
- Cook time: 4 days
- Makes: 2 litres
- Difficulty: easy
- Course: drink
- Cookware: jar with lid
- Cuisine: Romanian
Ingredients
- 9-10 elderberry inflorescences
- 1/3 lemon
- 300 g sugar
- 3 litres cold water⠀
Cooking method
Step 1
Rinse elderflower inflorescences under cold water. Separate elderberry flowers from the stems. Cut lemon into thin slices.
Step 2
Add elderflower, lemon, sugar, and water to a large jar and mix. Cover the jar with a lid and put in a sunny place for 4 days. Stir the socată daily. When drink is ready, filter it through a sieve. Pour into a bottle and store in the refrigerator.
My tips and tricks:
Sugar is often replaced with honey in the country where this drink comes from. And in order to make it more sparkling and a little “heady”, people add yeast and raisins. You will need 6 raisins for 3 litres drink (don’t wash them: we need a yeast culture that can be found on the surface of raisins) and ½ tsp dry yeast. Add them after you put sugar in the drink. You will see the fermentation process will be faster and much more fun. I advise you to make two drinks at once: one for children without the dry yeast, and the “heady” version for adults. Perhaps this is one of the most refreshing soft drinks on hot summer days. Serve it chilled or with ice cubes in which you can freeze delicate elderflowers.
- 9-10 elderberry inflorescences
- ⅓ lemon
- 300 g sugar
- 3 litres cold water⠀
- Rinse elderflower inflorescences under cold water. Separate elderberry flowers from the stems. Cut lemon into thin slices.
- Add elderflower, lemon, sugar, and water to a large jar and mix. Cover the jar with a lid and put in a sunny place for 4 days. Stir the socată daily. When drink is ready, filter it through a sieve. Pour into a bottle and store in the refrigerator.