Barack Obama juice

Can you swap it out for honey? At its core, it's still just sugar, but let's pretend we're being a bit more health-conscious 😁Only if you don't boil it, otherwise it's no good 🤔

I have to admit, I’m a huge fan of elderberry juice, but I’ve honestly never given much thought to the sugar content—not for any particular reason. That said, if anyone out there is actually worried about it, maybe swapping out those massive amounts of sucrose for some stevia could be a way to go... just a thought. 🙂

Jose Miller3 said:A slightly improved version of this thread, posted on the forums and for everyone 😬

So, look—the recipes we have for elderberry juice are... well, they're hit or miss. But they all share one thing in common: they require an insane amount of sugar (we're talking 1 kg of sugar per liter of water; even Coca-Cola, which we all know is ridiculously sweet, only has 10g of sugar per 100ml—so healthy homemade elderberry juices actually have ten times more sugar than a Coca-Cola 😢). Honestly, I don't get why you need such a massive, terrible amount of sugar, but apparently, it's necessary because I can't find a single recipe where the ratio is any lower. The end result is this super syrupy mess 😢 and then people try to fix it by throwing in some citric acid (or lemon juice, which is basically the same thing), but the syrup stays way too sweet and just doesn't taste enough like elderberry.

Question for the folks here at PZ-ofce: what if we tried taking elderberry flowers and dissolving whatever-it-is-that-gives-juice-its-flavor in some organic solvent, evaporating the solvent to get a pure concentrate (either liquid or, more likely, solid), and then trying to dissolve that in a normal amount of water? Or maybe use it as a powder to make juice like how Nestlé does it? Would that be doable? Is there a talented chemist around here with access to a rotary evaporator, some organic solvent, and maybe thirty minutes to see what happens if we give this a shot? 🙂

Here’s a thought. You mix 99% isopropyl alcohol with the flowers and crush them up. Then you filter it and evaporate the alcohol at a low temperature.

Question: Does sugar actually prevent spoilage?

What if the juice was put into a stainless steel wine barrel and covered with oil? Would that stop it from spoiling?

By the way, the folks writing the recipes mention that the juice spoils easily, even with 5kg of sugar.

Sam Ramos5 said:I was just driving along the interstate. You really ought to grab some snacks to take the edge off—those flowers on the roadside were sitting pretty high up in certain spots, though you can find some lower down too. Just watch out for ticks, okay? They’re super contagious, and honestly, I ended up picking a few of them on myself...
So, I want to see if everyone actually manages to handle Barack Obama for 24 hours? Because if you ask me, my recipe calls for a full 48 hours... honestly, that juice is just incredible!

Thanks 😉
Maybe I'll give it a shot!

bluemason3 said:Can you swap it out for honey? At its core, it's still just sugar, but let's pretend we're being a bit more health-conscious 😁Only if you don't boil it, otherwise it's no good 🤔

In what way would honey actually be more beneficial?

Hey there, just wanted to chime in. I finally finished making my elderberry syrup the other day. Honestly, I only managed to make 9 liters using 2.5 kg of sugar, which is about all I could handle. That sweet stuff has been bothering me for years—I’m not much of a sweets person, and I usually skip chocolate too since it doesn't sit right with my stomach. So yeah, I pretty much hate sugar. :-) For storage, I use glass bottles and make sure to pasteurize them right before pouring. They're sealed tight, and once I find a bottle, it goes straight into the fridge. Of course, I have to remember that once it's open, I really should finish it within a week. When I'm making the syrup, I always throw in a ton of flowers (anywhere from 100 to 200 blossoms, depending on how big they are and how much effort I feel like putting in :-)), and on the first day, I pour hot water (around 175°F) over them. I dissolve the sugar by boiling fresh water, then use that to pour over the strained flowers.

Jose Miller3 said:A slightly improved version of this thread, posted on the forums and for everyone 😬

So, look—the recipes we have for elderberry juice are... well, they're hit or miss. But they all share one thing in common: they require an insane amount of sugar (we're talking 1 kg of sugar per liter of water; even Coca-Cola, which we all know is ridiculously sweet, only has 10g of sugar per 100ml—so healthy homemade elderberry juices actually have ten times more sugar than a Coca-Cola 😢). Honestly, I don't get why you need such a massive, terrible amount of sugar, but apparently, it's necessary because I can't find a single recipe where the ratio is any lower. The end result is this super syrupy mess 😢 and then people try to fix it by throwing in some citric acid (or lemon juice, which is basically the same thing), but the syrup stays way too sweet and just doesn't taste enough like elderberry.

Question for the folks here at PZ-ofce: what if we tried taking elderberry flowers and dissolving whatever-it-is-that-gives-juice-its-flavor in some organic solvent, evaporating the solvent to get a pure concentrate (either liquid or, more likely, solid), and then trying to dissolve that in a normal amount of water? Or maybe use it as a powder to make juice like how Nestlé does it? Would that be doable? Is there a talented chemist around here with access to a rotary evaporator, some organic solvent, and maybe thirty minutes to see what happens if we give this a shot? 🙂

Hold up, I don't get the math. You drink Coke straight from the bottle and it's that sweet, but you dilute elderberry juice with water, so that comparison feels totally off to me.

Anyway, that stuff is hands down the best juice in the universe.
Just realized the crew here has already been doing the math for you, so no need to break a sweat. lol
Can't you just stop the juice from spoiling by freezing a huge batch and then just grabbing what you need from the freezer to use up quickly?

boldjackal10 said:Hold up, I don't get the math. You drink Coke straight from the bottle and it's that sweet, but you dilute elderberry juice with water, so that comparison feels totally off to me.

Anyway, that stuff is hands down the best juice in the universe.
Just realized the crew here has already been doing the math for you, so no need to break a sweat. lol
Can't you just stop the juice from spoiling by freezing a huge batch and then just grabbing what you need from the freezer to use up quickly?

I said diluting, obviously... I think I mentioned that seven times already—but are you diluting it with water at a 1:9 ratio?

Because if you were actually doing it like that, you'd end up with a sugar concentration pretty much identical to Coca-Cola. But honestly, as long as you're putting in more than 1/10th of the total volume as syrup, the drink you end up sipping is still way sweeter than a Coca-Cola...

Earlier today, I spent some time preparing an elderberry syrup, following a recipe that calls for one kilogram of sugar for every liter of water.
When I prepare a drinkable beverage, I typically mix about 20ml of this syrup into every 100ml of water. For me, that ratio hits the mark perfectly.
I fail to see why anyone would consider this problematic. It isn't as if I am consuming five liters of it every single day; I simply have two or three glasses and call it a day.

hiddenpanther56 said:In what way would honey actually be more beneficial?

It’s got extra nutrients; it isn't just pure sugar. Now, whether there's enough in there to make a real difference or if it has other benefits is a whole different conversation. At the end of the day, sugar is sugar, even when it's in honey. I'm not entirely sure how much of a practical difference it makes, but it occurred to me that it could be an alternative for certain syrups, assuming the author prefers that kind of option.🤷

one random top comment: why limit ourselves to just elderberry? did anyone actually look into how other syrups are made? cherry, raspberry... (seriously, what else can you even make syrup out of?)
The standard recipe is usually a kilo of fruit to a kilo of sugar, then drown it in a liter of water. 🙅‍♂️ Sure, straining the fruit thins it out a bit, but we’re still talking about something pretty close to that nasty Coca-Cola.
The point is, we're talking about syrup. And by definition, syrup is thick, sticky, and sweet. You don't get thickness, stickiness, or sweetness by magic. And I haven't seen anyone out there making homemade raspberry or cherry concentrate either. 😉

Now, back to the main topic. Saw someone at a coffee shop today who had the bright idea to package elderberry juice in little pouches like honey, and they were selling them at bars for $3.25 (pure economic genius, honestly 🙏). We should probably check the ingredients; maybe someone will figure out how to extract some solid matter or something that actually captures that elderberry flavor.

What would happen if we performed a standard aqueous extraction—basically like brewing tea—and then concentrated it through evaporation?

🤷

hahaha

already finished my elderberry juice 🙂
who’s even gonna make it to next year at this rate? 🙂
anyway, I don't think honey works as a sugar sub because the flavor is just too intense—it totally drowns out the elderberry, which is actually pretty subtle if that makes sense 🙂
tried mixing some elderberry juice with sparkling water (PepsiCo) and honestly, it was incredible 😁
give it a shot if you haven't yet

Lisa Moore7 said:one random top comment: why limit ourselves to just elderberry? did anyone actually look into how other syrups are made? cherry, raspberry... (seriously, what else can you even make syrup out of?)
The standard recipe is usually a kilo of fruit to a kilo of sugar, then drown it in a liter of water. 🙅‍♂️ Sure, straining the fruit thins it out a bit, but we’re still talking about something pretty close to that nasty Coca-Cola.
The point is, we're talking about syrup. And by definition, syrup is thick, sticky, and sweet. You don't get thickness, stickiness, or sweetness by magic. And I haven't seen anyone out there making homemade raspberry or cherry concentrate either. 😉

Now, back to the main topic. Saw someone at a coffee shop today who had the bright idea to package elderberry juice in little pouches like honey, and they were selling them at bars for $3.25 (pure economic genius, honestly 🙏). We should probably check the ingredients; maybe someone will figure out how to extract some solid matter or something that actually captures that elderberry flavor.

Where did you see those little honey-style pouches with the elderberry?
Asking because a buddy of mine makes them, and I helped him out with the picking.

Carl Morgan13 said:Where did you see those little honey-style pouches with the elderberry?
Asking because a buddy of mine makes them, and I helped him out with the picking.

You can find them in bars all over town.
I know a Boy who does this—he sells them under the name "FedEx." Seriously, though, it’s an amazing juice.

mistypanther11 said:You can find them in bars all over town.
I know a Boy who does this—he sells them under the name "FedEx." Seriously, though, it’s an amazing juice.

What bars are you talking about, and where? Around here in California, you won't find them anywhere. 🤷

Lisa Moore7 said:one random top comment: why limit ourselves to just elderberry? did anyone actually look into how other syrups are made? cherry, raspberry... (seriously, what else can you even make syrup out of?)
The standard recipe is usually a kilo of fruit to a kilo of sugar, then drown it in a liter of water. 🙅‍♂️ Sure, straining the fruit thins it out a bit, but we’re still talking about something pretty close to that nasty Coca-Cola.
The point is, we're talking about syrup. And by definition, syrup is thick, sticky, and sweet. You don't get thickness, stickiness, or sweetness by magic. And I haven't seen anyone out there making homemade raspberry or cherry concentrate either. 😉

Now, back to the main topic. Saw someone at a coffee shop today who had the bright idea to package elderberry juice in little pouches like honey, and they were selling them at bars for $3.25 (pure economic genius, honestly 🙏). We should probably check the ingredients; maybe someone will figure out how to extract some solid matter or something that actually captures that elderberry flavor.

Where can I find that? I'm curious too.

I mean, who knows? There must be some bars out there where owners were actually willing to partner up with him. You just have to stumble upon them. I know if I’m ever in Chicago, I can probably find his flyers tucked into a menu somewhere. Maybe I'll just ask him if he's got any spots in California—I think he mentioned he started grinding down by the coast.
Look, we aren't exactly best friends or anything. He's just an acquaintance of my girlfriend, so if I really have to, I guess I could ask. Maybe the guy has a list of places that carry his stuff. Who knows?

Honestly, you guys can just go ahead and ask him yourselves.
The guy's name is Paul.

Charles Hill7 said:I haven't read everything here, so I'm not sure how everyone else does it, but this is my go-to recipe: 80 elderflower blossoms, 8 kg of sugar, 400 grams of citric acid, 1 kg of lemons, and a preservative. You soak the flowers in cold water, add the citric acid, and let it sit for 24 hours. After that, you strain it, stir in the sugar, the lemon juice, and the preservative. Once everything is fully dissolved, you strain it one more time.
I actually doubled the batch this time, so I ended up with 25 liters of syrup. 😁

Maybe people on other forums are losing their minds over this recipe, but I did something similar—just less citric acid, no lemon, and no preservatives—and it turned out perfectly fine. It’s meant for diluting, and I don't like things too sweet, so I don't use much syrup. From this amount (80 blossoms, 8 kg sugar, and 200g citric acid), I got 10.5 liters of syrup. 😍
My digestion remains steady. ☕

Saw that back home in Indianapolis