How to make homemade elderflower soda (socată) – the classic recipe, step by step
Homemade elderflower soda – socată, as it is called in Romania – takes just four ingredients: elderflowers, water, sugar and lemon. Natural fermentation, started by the wild yeasts in the flowers' pollen, gives it its fine bubbles and slightly tangy taste. Below is the classic recipe for 5 litres, made the way Romanian households have made it for generations, plus the mistakes to avoid.
In short: 5 litres of water · 12–15 elderflower heads · 500 g sugar · 2 lemons · 2–4 days of fermenting in a warm place · keeps in the fridge for 1–2 weeks.
Ingredients for 5 litres of elderflower soda
5 litres of water (still, or boiled and cooled completely)
12–15 elderflower heads (umbels), fully open
500 g sugar (between 400 and 700 g, depending on how sweet you like it)
2 lemons, washed well and sliced
optional: a handful of unwashed raisins, if fermentation is slow to start
You will also need a large glass, ceramic or stainless-steel container, cheesecloth, a strainer and clean plastic (PET) bottles.
How to make it, step by step
1. Pick the right flowers. Pick in late May or early June, on a sunny day after the dew has dried, away from roads and sprayed fields. Choose only fully open, creamy-white heads with a sweet scent. Use only black elder (Sambucus nigra), a shrub or tree with woody bark. Don't confuse it with dwarf elder or danewort (Sambucus ebulus, 'boz' in Romanian), a low herbaceous plant with similar flowers but purple anthers and an unpleasant smell, which is toxic. If you are not sure which plant you are looking at, don't pick it.
2. Prepare the flowers. Don't wash the flowers: the pollen carries the natural yeasts that start fermentation. Shake them gently to dislodge any insects and trim off the thick stalks. Only the flowers are used; the stems, leaves and raw elderberries are not to be eaten.
3. Make the sugar water. Dissolve the sugar in one litre of warm water, then top up with the rest of the cold water. The mixture must be cold when you add the flowers, because hot water kills the yeasts.
4. Set it to ferment. In a large, clean glass, ceramic or stainless-steel container, add the flowers, the lemon slices and the sugar water. Cover the container with cheesecloth or a thin towel tied on with string, so it can breathe but insects can't get in.
5. Leave it 2–4 days in a warm place. Keep the container in the sun or in a warm spot (20–25 °C) and stir once or twice a day with a clean spoon. The soda is ready when fine bubbles appear on the surface and the taste turns slightly tangy. If no bubbles appear after two days, add a few raisins. If you see mould or smell something unpleasant, throw it away and start again.
6. Strain and bottle. Strain the soda through cheesecloth and pour it into clean plastic (PET) bottles, filling them to about 90%. Avoid glass bottles with airtight lids: fermentation continues and the pressure can burst them. Leave the bottles at room temperature for 1–2 days to build up fizz, then move them to the fridge. If a PET bottle becomes very hard when squeezed, loosen the cap slightly to let the gas out.
7. Keep it cold and drink it soon. Homemade elderflower soda is kept in the fridge and drunk within 1–2 weeks. Fermentation continues slowly in the bottle: every day it gets a little more sour, less sweet and fizzier. Open the bottles slowly, over the sink.
Common mistakes and how to fix them
Fermentation doesn't start: usually the flowers were washed, the water is chlorinated or it is too cold. Use still water, move the container somewhere warmer and add a few raisins.
It turns out too sweet: you stopped it too early. Leave it another day in a warm place before bottling.
It turns out too sour or too 'sharp': it fermented for too long. Next time shorten the time or use less sugar.
Weak elderflower aroma: the flowers were picked after rain or were past their best. Pick them freshly opened, on a dry day.
Frequently asked questions about homemade elderflower soda
Does homemade elderflower soda contain alcohol?
It can. Any fermentation of sugar produces a little alcohol, and the amount grows the longer the soda sits in a warm place or in the bottle. At home it can't be measured, so it can't be guaranteed that a homemade soda is alcohol-free.
Can I make it with dried elderflowers?
Yes, but the aroma is milder, and dried flowers no longer carry the natural yeasts of fresh flowers, so fermentation is slower to start. Use about 30–40 g of dried flowers for 5 litres and add a few raisins.
How long does homemade elderflower soda keep?
In the fridge, in PET bottles, about 1–2 weeks. After that it gets too sour and too fizzy.
Why doesn't homemade elderflower soda turn out the same every time?
Because it depends on the yeasts on the flowers, the temperature and the number of days it ferments. Every homemade batch is slightly different.
Not elderflower season? Try ours
Elder blooms for only two to three weeks a year. Soculent starts from the same classic recipe – elderflowers from Transylvania, water, sugar and lemon – but we ferment it slowly, for about two weeks, at a controlled temperature, so the taste is the same from one batch to the next. It is alcohol-free and you can find it in cans all year round, in four flavours:
Soculent Original – the classic recipe, elderflower and lemon
Soculent Original Light – 40% less sugar
Soculent Watermelon – with watermelon juice
Soculent Ginger – with a warm ginger finish
