There is a fortnight in June when the hedgerows turn white and the whole company stops answering email. Elderflower does not wait. Pick a week early and it tastes of nothing; a week late and it smells, frankly, of cat.
How to know it is time
Look for heads that are fully open, creamy rather than bright white, and heavy with pollen. Shake one gently over your palm. If it leaves a yellow dust, you are on. If the petals fall, you have missed it.
Pick in the morning sun, when the scent is strongest
Cut the head with a short stalk and lay it flat
Never wash the flowers: the flavour is in the pollen
Get them into cold water within four hours
“We could buy concentrate in January. It would be cheaper, and it would taste like January.”
What fourteen days gives us
This year the three of us picked a little over three hundred kilos from hedgerows within a twenty-minute drive of the workshop. That is the whole year’s supply. When it runs out, the Elderflower & Sea Salt goes off the shelf until the hedgerows turn white again.
