Elderberry Liqueur with Tonka Bean

by Editorial Staff

Summary

Prep Time	1 hr
Total Time	13 hrs
Course	Drinks
Cuisine	European
Servings (Default: 1)

Ingredients

Instructions

Carefully pluck the elderberries from the branches and discard all of them when they are unripe. Bring to the boil with water and sugar and cook for about 10 minutes. In between squeeze the berries with a potato masher.
Let cool down overnight.
The next day, put the juice with the berries in a large glass vessel and pour the rum over it.
Grate the tonka bean very finely and add it to the base.
Let the liqueur steep for 3 months. Then strain and fill into pretty bottles.
Note:
When processing elderberries, it is important to ensure that all unripe berries are sorted out and that the stalks are carefully removed. Ripe berries are deep black and shiny.
Unripe berries, the umbellate stalks and the kernels contain sambunigrin, which can cause nausea and diarrhea. When heated to at least 80 degrees, this ingredient becomes harmless.

About Editorial Staff

The Boss Kitchen editorial staff oversees content review, fact-checking, and recipe verification across the site. Published articles pass through the editorial team before going live, ensuring ingredient lists, techniques, cooking times, and nutritional claims hold up in a home kitchen. The team coordinates contributions across the site writers, handles reader corrections, and maintains consistency in measurement conventions, safety guidance, and dietary labeling. Posts under this byline typically represent team-reviewed reference material, site announcements, or editorial roundups rather than individual-author features, and they are held to the same sourcing standards as bylined recipe and product coverage.