Elder flower cordial

I've just tried making elder flower cordial for the first time this morning. Some of the flowers turned brown when I added them. Anyone know if this is usual?

Recipie suggested adding citric acid which I don't have. Not sure if this is really needed. So just had sugar, flowers and lemons.

I'll see what it tastes like this time tomorrow.

I don't know if it's usual, but I made some for the first time and mine did the same. Tastes fine though. I wondered if the brown ones were older bunches of flowers that had been open longer. I didn't have citric acid either.

I don't use citric acid, and it's almost certain that the flowers would've gone brown within a few hours of picking. I tend to heat the water with the sugar so it dissolved, and then add the flowers very quickly. The heat makes the flowers go brown. It doesn't stain the cordial for me, so never worried about it.

I need to get out there and pick some more flowers... they won't be around for long!

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You can freeze the flowers by the way. Then when you're ready to make more cordial, take the flowers out of the freezer and pour the warm syrup water over them and add the lemon, then steep for a day or two

You only have a short shelf life with cordial 3-4 months max apparently, mine has never lasted that long so it hasn’t been an issue.

If you add flowers to hot water they will brown, this will also kill the natural yeasts that would make it ferment. If you use the citric acid available from most chemists this means the flowers can be put into the cooled liquid and they won’t discolour.