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I have tried three in my life. One from Germany, one from France, and one from BC in Canada. The one from BC was by far the cheapest, had the least added sugar, and overall I feel the best of the three
This is crazy, I was literally planning on making this, I just bought dried elderflower. Was gonna try to wing it but now I have a step by step guide, love it!
Another method I've found for separating little flowers or berries from their stems is to use a fork. Slide the stems in between the tines of the fork and gently pull away the flower or berry from the stem, almost like you're combing them out of the stems. I made great use of this method to pick lilac flowers.
After messing around with a rose cordial and lemongrass for a cocktail, it was missing another element. My beverage director and I ended up adding .50 ounces of elderflower liqueur, and it's our best selling cocktail on the menu to date.
@@KevinKos thanks! It was interesting how the sweetness of the liqueur assisted in the perceived acidity of the cocktail. For context, my beverage director mentioned the situation in some Champagne houses where low dosage Champagnes were typically not very interesting due to the lack of sugar, and it turns out that the perceived acidity, amongst other things, of Champagne was more noticeable once dosage was added as opposed to little or none.
Jeeeeez, fam. What amazing content you guys make. Props! Recipes for home made liqueurs is an amazing way to expand your home bar cheaply. I often find myself wanting to try new cocktails, but not willing to spend the buck on liqueurs that I won't be using as much. This could easily be a series and starting with Elderflower Liqueur is a perfect one. Thanks a lot, crew! 🙏
🥂 Bohemian Bicycle wildly popular now for years at a local restaurant - Bohemian Bicycle - 1 ounce Bombay Sapphire - 1 ounce St. Germain elderflower liqueur -1/2 to 3/4 ounce lime juice, club soda - 1 leaf fresh basil - Love the suit!
Kevin, I only recently discovered this channel as someone who has just started delving into mixology and it is an absolute gold mine. The information, from simple basics to homemade and no waste, the aesthetic between your dapper self, the set, and music, the excellent camera work and editting (thanks Sasha you do an amazing job), and just the right amount of humor make for unbelievably quality content. Eagerly looking forward to more, keep up the good work and cheers❤
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Thank you so much for the kind words! It means a lot and we'll keep working hard to deliver!
I don't have any elderflowers near me, so I would not be able to make my own, however this video has inspired me to go out and buy a bottle of St Germain and use it in a few cocktails.
Making your own Liqueurs is a great way to budget your bar. I make my own Limoncello and Curacao, you can tweak it to your own flavor profiles, and you can build an arguably better product for a literal fraction of the price. I love seeing this kind of stuff on RU-vid. It also makes great gifts as a by the way ;)
Thanks! I've been trying to find a diy elderflower liqueur recipe that keeps that floral aroma and fresh taste forward. This will work wonderfully! Oh, and I love mine with Hendrick's, soda and lime 💚
I hadn’t heard of the Hugo until I visited Slovenia. They are delicious and very refreshing, and it seemed like everyone was drinking them there and especially in Croatia. Loved them so much that I bought a bottle of St Germaine and planted some mint as soon as I got back. Excellent vid! 🥂
I love this recipe and have made it several times. Huge thanks to Kevin for figuring out the recipe!! My only change is I think the elderflower is vastly insufficient - I doubled it, and was very happy. I quadrupled it (!!) and was blown away. My favorite elderflower cocktail might be that (4x) on the rocks! (I also trimmed the sugar by 25%). It provides a richness and depth that goes way beyond StGermaine.
as someone who's... geographically challenged, I appreciate the homemade swaps I know chartreuse is extremely complex, but I wonder if it would be possible to make an approximation of it(or maybe you've already done one?)
@@KevinKos Yes me too. Its my favorite liquor and its really difficult to find these days. Inco, witch is where all the restaurants is doing there shopping cant even get it :(
Fun fact: in Poland the Elderflower tree is called Lipa and July is named Lipiec - hence it was picked in July - so always remember to pick it according to your own climate cause picking it in May/June in Poland might end up with poisoning. Fun fact nr 2: in Czech June is called Lipiec :D
I just made like 3 liters of it. It is delicious. I need to find people to share or barter with it. I put some blossoms in mine and made like an elderflower snow globe. The fancy powders are keeping the color well so far. I suspect there is a big difference in strength of flower from place to place. I doubled the flower for a few batches but lost track of which ones.
I've been getting disillusioned with liqueurs lately due to the high cost of neutral spirits. Watered down Everclear has off flavors you need to overpower compared to your average vodka, but most vodkas that are good enough to use for infusions are in the $20-25 range for a 750ml. A lot of good-to-great liqueurs are in that range already without the work and chance of me screwing it up. Shrubs, however, you can't buy at the store for the most part and offer a lot of room for cheap experimentation.
This looks amazing thank you so much for sharing this delightful drink I’m growing elderflowers in my garden for their amazing flavors now and just finished making a cordial with some…blessings wished
Just whipped up 2 large batches of this after going on an elderflower hunt yesterday - came out amazingly well! It's a very intense an 'fresh' elderflower taste compared to St Germain.
I remember picking elderflowers as small kid in the early 70s and my mum making elderflower wine. It seemed otherworldly to me, the demijohns and all that. Never felt tempted to try it as it always smelt slightly cat pissy to me and I'm not a huge wine fan. I may try this though.
I actually made this liquer following your recipe today! It tastes really great but the next time i'd probably tone down the sugar a little bit, i'm excited to use it in some cocktails tomorrow though!
Great video... as always! My little tip... There are many Elderflower cordials and i use them in my cocktails at home. In England there many choices, but the best by a big margin is Green Bottle Elderflower Cordial... Not their mixed elderflower cordials, the straight one. I tried many fancier brands but this one is the best after taste testing! By the way.. I have been looking everywhere locally ( South of France) for flowering elderflower, but no luck finding it yet. If i do find it i will make elderflower Champagne which i hear is excellent!
The story of how St. Germain came to be is also hilarius🥂. Oh and of course you went and made your own, might as well flex on the rest of the Anglophones that Slovenians can do it themselves better. Lepo se imejte Kevin, Sašo, Robi, in Fantomska roka.
🥂 I am a forester by trade and every year I give out hundreds of our native elderberry shrub. Many of the folks I work with are super nice and would absolutely let me collect their elderflowers so I will be super excited to try this!
🥂 I always appreciate the content. The super juice is still a game changer for me and some of my friends. My home cocktail and cooking game has been forever changed.
I made my own quick and dirty st germaine mixing equal parts vodka and store bought elderflower cordial and you'd shrugging to pick them apart. This video is a much more impressive method but if anybody was looking for an easier alternative (may not have access to elderflower) I can verify the cordial works perfectly.
@KevinKos a tonne of flavour in the "bottle green" brand that is available in Australian supermarkets. I can't speak for all brands, but the sweetness and the elderflower and citrus were all pretty much bang on with the st germain I compared it with. That said I imagine yours would probably be better, elderflower isn't a common over here. I bought a tree but don't get enough flowers to make a huge amount of cordial.
In Switzerland elderflower syrup is super popular and it was my favourite one as a kid and every spring so many people make their own. When I make a Hugo at home I just do Prosecco + elderflower syrup :)
🥂 Step 1: get wild elderflower...welp doubt I could do that. Definitely would not be cheaper to buy all the equipment required to make this, but its a cool idea.
I just made a butch and it turned out pretty good, (i did it with sealed jar inside pot with water on the stove and check the temperature every few minutes) and it turned out pretty balanced although the elderflower taste a bit heavy i guess because i used dried flowers wich usually a bit stronger in taste than fresh flowers. Maybe i should have dialed the dried flower down in comparison to the fresh ones..?🤔
Awesome film! No fresh elderflowers near me, but i always have St. Germain on hand! Since you've used Ikea ingredients in the past, I wonder if you've looked at using their elderflower concentrate as an alternative, and what you thought. The taste of the syrup by itself is amazing. To get 20% abv, it looks like a simple 1:1 with vodka.
Thanks! That's a great idea! I would need to try this out. On its own, the cordial tastes excellent, but I think mixing it with vodka would yield a much less elderflower taste.
@@KevinKosI’ve had success mixing the Ikea drink concentrate with a smaller amount of higher proof alcohol to maintain the flavor concentration. Everclear worked well, and my personal experiment was Wray and Nephew. While not broadly useful in drinks, the elderflower rum is still a novel liqueur to have on hand.
Amazing Kevin ! I await the video of Suze artisanal gentian liqueur, or Italicus, as they are extremely difficult to buy here, your recipes are the best, greetings from Brazil ! 👊🏼🇧🇷
🥂I was meaning to get some more St. Germain since mine is all oxidized as it is a rarely used ingredient for me. I was hoping to find a cheaper alternative and here it is! Now I just need to figure out where to source some elderflowers in Nebraska. I used to know of some wild spots when I lived in a different state, but I'll do some hunting at the state park this weekend. When I make this, I'll decant it into the St. Germain bottle ... nobody needs to know... haha! Great video, Kevin and team!
At my liquor store, Absolut vodka is like $20-25 for a 750ml so I don't know how you're getting a cost of $5 for your liqueur that uses 2/3 of that bottle...
For the best extraction of plant aromatics with ethanol, is this not best done with as high a proof solution as possible and at sub zero temperatures? So rather than diluting the vodka and using sousvide, best to just add aromatics (flowers and lemon zest) to vodka in a freezer, leave for 24h then filter and add remainder of ingredients?
Yes, you could do this ways too. I haven't tried it yet, but it would be a great experiment However I doubt I would get the liqueur with the same potent eldelflower taste as this one.
Great episode. Three things though: 1) sous vide is also maceration (however you add heat). Just saying... 2) It is unwise to add dilution in the maceration step. The higher the alcohol proof, the more “ability” does the alcohol have to “bind” essential oils. Water inhibits that. Add dilution after infusion (or even use higher proof neutral spirits / vodka). 3) I think, it would be great, to make a liqueur which is similar (interchangeable) with St. Germaine - however not a rip off. The Channel is far too precious for this. _For what’s worth: I am rather having a spritz with the “original” lemon balm..._
Hey Kevin you ever use Pavan. I'm interested to hear your thoughts on the flavor and how it compares to St. Germain and Italicus. All three make cocktails better and do a bang-up job in a spritz.
I saw St Germain online and thought it was pretty expensive. Plus it should be consumed within six months. How long do you recon your version will be staying true to its taste? 🥂as I watched till the end 😀
I love the labels you put on your bottles - how do you make them? I searched a bit but couldn't find if you already answered this in a different video. Awesome video, can't wait to try this.
This video came just in time. Thank you! I already planned on making elderflower liqueur this year. But I wouldn't have known to add citric and ascorbic acids and sodium citrate. I don't have a sous vide but I think cold extracting for two or three days will do. I made the batch today and I'm really curious how it will turn out.
@@CynesNoob1 I mixed everything but water and sugar into a mason jar. I figured without heat maybe there's a better extraction when it's higher proof alcohol and not already dissolved sugar in it. Mixed (shook) really well and it sits for two days now. I guess tomorrow I'll strain and add water and sugar. I am thinking of mixing water and sugar separately first so I can heat it to make the sugar dissolve faster. Then cool and mix in with the (strained) rest.
@@KevinKos After three days I strained and finished it and it tastes really great! It's still not as clear as yours in the video but I guess some sediments will still sink to the bottom in the next days. I have never tasted St. Germain so I can't really compare (yet). But I am sure my homemade one will shine in some summer drinks this year. Thanks again.
