Healing Elderflower Tea

Refresh and nourish yourself with this easy and delicious honey elderflower tea! With only a few ingredients that are packed with nutrition, you’ll love sipping on this lovely tea.

Tea time.

We’re not British (well, maybe on my dad’s side, if you go back 100 years), but my family *loves* tea time. My kids are especially all about taking fancy tea cups and mugs and making themselves a pot of tea. And while I’m a little picky about the teas I drink, my kids are not. They will literally drink anything you tell them is tea.

• Ginger tea made with fresh ginger.
• Peppermint tea.
• Chamomile tea.
• Nettle tea.
• Raspberry leaf tea.

And during the summer months, elderflower tea.

Since we moved to the south, we’ve been lucky enough to have a backyard packed with elderberry shrubs. They are considered weeds down here and most people don’t realize the gold they have growing around them. But my kids do. We taught them young how to forage around our yard for snacks when they’re hungry. They love munching on fresh yellow dock, wild Indian strawberries, and clovers.

Of course we taught them which plants are not safe to just pick and eat raw, too. And elderberry is one of those. Even though the berries are soft and juicy when fresh – they’re not safe to eat raw! The flowers on the other hand, are wonderful!

All about elderflowers.

While elderberries have been used for immune health during the winter months to keep colds and flu away (though elderberry syrup has been known to shorten the life of viruses), elderflowers are most effective when you’re already sick, and are wonderful for sinus infections and other respiratory issues (like seasonal allergies) due to their antibacterial and antiviral properties.

Elderflowers pack a powerful punch of bioflavonoids like quercetin, isoquercitrin and anthocyanins and have been traditionally used for anti-inflammatory, diaphoretic, and antiseptic purposes. Here’s more about elderflower benefits if you’re curious.

When it comes to tea, my kids absolutely love elderflower tea with a little bit of honey. They pick the flowers straight from the shrubs in our backyard, steep them in boiling water, stir in a bit of honey, and enjoy. While this is the simplest way to enjoy elderflower tea, it’s also lovely when combined with peppermint and/or yarrow in the event of fighting off colds and fevers, or combined with nettles when dealing with allergies. Also has relaxing properties and makes a lovely bedtime tea with chamomile.

Using the fresh elderflowers will produce a lighter tea that resembles a green tea in flavor. Of course fresh is good, but for people with sensitive tummies, remember that fresh flowers are a little harder on the stomach. Using dried elderflowers gives a deeper flavor, but the same health benefits. Plus you don’t have to worry about finding fresh elderflowers or foraging for them in places that might have been sprayed with pesticides.

If you don’t happen to have elderberry growing in your yard and you’re wondering where to forage for it, this post on elderberry identification by Susannah Shmurak is quite helpful!

Everything Elderberry.

While my kids have been enjoying this elderflower tea for years, I was delighted to find the recipe for it in Susannah’s latest book, Everything Elderberry. This book contains such a wealth of information on elderberries and their uses. It includes over 6o delicious recipes for everything from elderberry syrup to baked oatmeal with elderberries! There’s even a section on homemade skin-care recipes with elderberries and flowers.

Everything Elderberry also includes amazing tips on how to forage and cultivate elderberries, as well as a comprehensive section on the holistic uses for elderberries and elderflowers.

Check out Everything Elderberry here!

More elderberry & elderflower recipes.

While this elderflower tea is a favorite in my family, we also love enjoying elderberries and elderflowers in these recipes, too…

• Blueberry Elderberry Water Kefir
• Honey-Sweetened Elderflower Champagne
• Elderberry Syrup in the Instant Pot
• Homemade Cider & Elderberry Cranberry Sauce

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