I’m determined to bypass a cold or flu this year. I’m strengthening up my immune system, taking care of my nervous system, hydrating, exercising regularly and eating meals made mostly of whole foods. Nothing is going to stop me this year! I’m focused on finding creative ways to get immune boosting herbs into my daily diet. This elderberry blueberry mocktail is one of the ways. Plus, it’s dry January so I feel that warrants some mocktails.
To start I made an elderberry tea out of dried elderberries and waited until it cooled to room temperature. Then I chilled it until it was ready to be used. The tea technically doesn’t have to cool but hot tea will melt the ice in the mocktail so I generally wait until it’s chilled before use.
While I’m waiting for my tea to chill, I used the zest of an orange and combined it with granulated sugar. This is going to garnish the rim of my glass. The sweet citrus flavor is unreal. I had a hard time resisting spoonfuls of it.
Next up is the ice. This is what gives the mocktail feel in my opinion. Sure, there are hot mocktails but for some reason the ice really sets it apart.
The heart and soul is the elderberry tea. Pour this over the ice then add about a half a cup of blueberries, depending on the glass. Then top off with seltzer. I used my favorite flavor, ruby red grapefruit, but any flavor will do.
To make things extra elderberry-y, add a spoonful of elderberry honey if you have it on hand. If you want to learn how to make your own, here’s a previous post with a recipe. 🙂
WHY ELDERBERRY?
Elderberry is loaded with vitamin c, which is vital in keeping the body’s healing process healthy. It’s often used during cold and flu season to keep the symptoms at bay. It’s also a powerful antioxidant and immune boosting. Pretty wonderful if you ask me.
Once I got to the bottom of the mocktail, I picked the blueberries out and oh my goodness! They were insane. So good! Soaking blueberries in elderberry tea might just be my new favorite discovery of the year so far. You’ve got to try it.
ELDERBERRY BLUEBERRY MOCKTAIL RECIPE
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon of freshly steeped elderberry tea, chilled
- 1/2 cup of blueberries
- Ice
- Seltzer
- Zest of one orange (I used mandarin)
- 1/2 cup of granulated sugar
- Elderberry honey (optional)
Directions
- Using a small plate combine the orange zest and sugar until combined. Dip the rim of the serving glass into the mixture until its evenly coated.
- Drop in the ice.
- Pour in the chilled elderberry tea.
- Toss in the blueberries.
- Top off with seltzer.
- Add the elderberry honey if using.
- Enjoy!