After being introduced to a local elderberry grower several years back, we switched from using dried berries & have been pressing fresh elderberry exclusively in our Elderberry Syrup. 🍒 At the time we transitioned to the fresh elderberry, I was fascinated to work with the berry in it’s natural state & loved providing a freshly pressed syrup to our family & customers year-round.
Since learning the difference between using dried and fresh berries as the starting ingredient in making Elderberry Syrup, we now only fresh-press for this specific preparation.
While visiting an elderberry farm & producer in 2020 we learned that dried elderberries are strained completely of “run-off” juice before dehydration. This step helps speed the moisture removal while the berry dries in the dehydrator - makes total sense! Although, through that draining process, that berry has lost no small portion of the elderberry juice goodness.
Many elderberry preparations on the market use a base of dried elderberries that have been reconstituted with water & cooked down. Typically these dried elderberry preparations start with 1 part dried elderberry to 3 or 4 parts water. After cooking these ingredients down a bit, the finished preparation is the steeped elderberry/water. (If water is listed as the first ingredient, the product was likely made from dried berries.) This method is difficult to accurately determine the amount of elderberry per serving & the strength of the preparation.
When making an elderberry syrup from fresh elderberries, we press ALL the goodness from the elderberry & use it as the main ingredient! This allows for a very concentrated end preparation - 3,100mg of straight pressed elderberry per teaspoon or more than 1 pound of fresh berries per bottle!
It has been a learning experience working with the elderberry in different forms the last 8 years. I love using the dried elderberry in certain preparations as it is a pragmatic and convenient way to increase the nourishment in an herbal tea blend. Although, it is clear that a strong & natural-state Elderberry Syrup comes from using fresh-pressed elderberry!
Rest assured that you are getting a preparation that is very concentrated (but not from concentrate!), rich in flavor, vibrant in color + taste and loaded with the deep purple goodness in every serving.
We hope you can TASTE the difference! 🌱
