There are loads of recipies for elderflower champagne on t'net and they all seem to vary in terms of number of flowers, amount of sugar etc. so I don't suppose it matters too much!
What I do is make up 25 litres in a fermenting bin - 2 kg sugar, 8 lemons (juice, zest, and then throw the rest in too), couple of tablespoons of white wine vinegar, and I usually add a little cider yeast (just to make sure things begin to bubble properly you understand
) and top up with water.
Then the fun bit - go and collect your flower heads - fully open, in the sunshine in the afternoon. Shake the thrips off (and don't tell the missus that there are any bugs in there
) and drop them in to the mix. Give it a gentle stir.
Leave that lot for a few days, covered, and then carefully decant into bottles, leaving as much sediment behind as you can (which at that stage won't be easy - besides which, you need to have a bit of yeast for some continued fermentation going on in the bottles so you get your bubbles).
I use empty fizzy drinks bottles, which I try to remember to release the pressure from each day (or they DO go pop!). That way, it's always fizzy, and the taste gets continally more interesting as things mature.
That's pretty much it - depending on the sugar and yeast content, you will have a different kick - but one thing I am fastidious about is sterilisation. Fermenting bin, bottles, transfer jug, funnel, etc etc all get a good soaking in Milton solution (you can buy the tablets in the baby section of the chemist or supermarket).
Works for me - I haven't been disappointed yet
