Improving Elderberry

Back in my scoutmaster days, Jake and Adam and I went on a float trip on which we had dehydrated ground beef.  We used it in spaghetti, and after a long day on the river, it was delicious.

A month later we made the same meal at home in the kitchen.  It was awful.  Food on a campout always tastes better.  The same food that produces an average meal at home makes for a fantastic meal around a campfire.  The things that you associate with food strongly affect the taste, both in a positive and negative way.  Context is important.

I'm looking for ways to improve my elderberry wine.  My first batch, made largely from my neighbor Larry's fruit, was light in fruit.  And I should have let the berries ripen a little more.  It is lightly oaked and the flavor is decent.  But it has an odd color, that of tea.  It looks oxidized, but it is not.  So while it tastes pretty good, it is just hard for me to get past that color.

Allison will be going back to school next week. Yesterday, we went back to the elderberry patch.  Patches, really, as they are spread out along a mile of lightly traveled county road.  Allison is small but mighty.  She fought through weeds taller than she is.  Together over two hours we had a great time collecting over 26# of truly ripe berries.

This year, I'll cold soak the elderberry and bump the volume of fruit.  Even if the flavor doesn't improve much, the color should be much better.  But this year's wine will also be made from Allison and Robert's berries.  And that might be the thing to make this year's elderberry as good as dehydrated ground beef on a campout.