No herb in the Amish medicine tradition has been more consistently kept than elderberry. Combined with rosehips — gathered after first frost when their vitamin C peaks — and raw garlic, this is close to what the American farmhouse shelf looked like before 1900.
Ingredients (makes about 2 cups)
- 1 cup raw, unfiltered honey
- 1 cup raw apple cider vinegar (with the mother)
- 3 tablespoons dried elderberries (or 1/4 cup fresh)
- 2 tablespoons dried rosehips, crushed or coarsely chopped
- 3 to 4 garlic cloves, peeled and lightly crushed
- 1 teaspoon dried astragalus root (optional but traditional), 1/2 teaspoon dried ginger root
Method
- Lightly crush rosehips and garlic to expose their interior surfaces.
- Combine elderberries, rosehips, garlic, astragalus, and ginger in a clean jar. Pour in vinegar and stir to submerge.
- Warm honey gently until pourable, add to the jar, and stir to combine.
- Cap loosely and infuse at room temperature 4 to 6 weeks, shaking every few days.
- Strain through fine cheesecloth, pressing firmly, and bottle.
- Take 1 to 2 tablespoons daily as a seasonal tonic, or every few hours at the first sign of illness.
Elderberry, rosehip, and garlic each appeared as named pharmacopeia entries before 1910 — this combination wasn’t invented, it was inherited. Store cool and dark up to 6 months; refrigerate after straining for longest shelf life.
This recipe is one of twenty in The Forgotten Apothecary — our full digital cookbook of pharmacy-counter tonics, switchels, oxymels, and healing syrups.