You can add a little more filtered and boiled or distilled water to it to reach the full amount of liquid in the recipe or you could just take a little less. There’s wiggle room with the dosing in this recipe.

You could probably use the juice instead of the water and omit the dried elderberries.

I use 2 cinnamon sticks and 1 teaspoon of whole cloves should be enough. This is not a canning recipe but you can freeze it in an ice cube tray for a longer shelf life.

You can, but it might be hard to strain out and make the syrup more gritty.

Some people seem to be more sensitive than others, but ideally the seeds should not be used. Cooking them helps, but some people may still experience digestive issues from eating them.

Yes, because it’s basically a strong tea mixed with raw honey. Tea will go start to grow microbes in about a day if left at room temperature. Elderberry syrups that are made by boiling water and sugar tend to be more shelf stable, but refrigeration (or freezing) gives the best shelf life.

You can simmer it more with the lid off to reduce the liquid down. Or if it barely reduced at all you could just use a little more per serving. This recipe in general (even the stovetop version) is thinner than most elderberry syrups because it doesn’t involve cooking in a sugar syrup to thicken.

Hi Katie-
I love making this syrup every year. I leave the cloves out though. I use it for onsets of colds or viral flus. I also love using a 1/2 Tablespoon of the syrup in my morning tea. It is so good. I like using local honey when making this syrup. Thank you for sharing this recipe.

Thanks for your comment. This is a discussion the Wellness Mama team has had in depth and the decision was made to leave the IP instructions in the recipe. After digging into the research studies and other sources on the topic the issue of the development and degradation of the toxic compounds (ie cyanogenic glycosides) in elderberry doesn’t seem so cut and dry. There doesn’t seem to be any hard science behind simmering a certain number of minutes and there is a steam release at the end if using the IP. Of course, if anyone is uncomfortable with the IP option the stove works great too!

Thanks for your comment! Raw elderberries are toxic (not poisonous) and can cause digestive issues for some, but not everyone. It’s still the safest option to cook them to reduce the cyanogenic glycosides though that can cause these issues.

It shouldn’t hurt to take it everyday, but recent research shows it works best to help shorten the duration and severity of the flu after exposure. So you could just take it once you start to feel flu symptoms.

You would just triple the amount called for in the recipe.

Dehydrated and dried elderberries are the same thing.