Elder Wine No 1 Recipe

Take elderberries, when ripe; pick them clean from the stalk; press out

the juice through a hair sieve or canvas-bag, and to every gallon of

juice put three gallons of water on the husks from which the juice has

been pressed. Stir the husks well in the water, and press them over

again; then mix the first and second liquor together, and boil it for

about an hour, skimming it clean as long as the scum rises. To every

gallon of liquor put two pounds of sugar, and skim it again very clean;

then put to every gallon a blade of mace and as much lemon-peel, letting

it boil an hour. After the sugar is put in, strain it into a tub, and,

when quite cold, put it into a cask; bung it close down, and look

frequently to see that the bung is not forced up. Should your quantity

be twelve gallons or more, you need not bottle it off till about April,

but be sure to do so on a clear dry day, and to let your bottles be

perfectly dry; but if you have not more than five or six gallons, you

may bottle it by Christmas on a clear fine day.

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