Sea buckthorn syrup: how to prepare a healthy drink from sea buckthorn berries and leaves

Collection and processing of sea buckthorn berries

Collecting sea buckthorn yourself is not an easy task! Tree branches prick and tend to hurt your hands, but there are ways to quickly collect berries. An example of such a collection is presented in the video from the “Uncle Robot” channel

You can also pick berries manually, cutting them initially from a tree with branches. Then the branches are freed from the fruits using a sharp knife.

If you don’t have your own bush, then sea buckthorn can be purchased at the local market or in a store, frozen.

Fresh berries must be washed. This must be done as quickly as possible after collection, otherwise the sea buckthorn will quickly become limp and begin to produce juice.

After water procedures, the berries are transferred to a colander and allowed to dry slightly.

Not only the fruits, but also the green mass of sea buckthorn are used for culinary and medicinal purposes. The foliage is collected in early summer, before the plant begins to flower.

To prepare syrup, you can use both fresh and dried herbs. You can prepare dry leaves yourself or purchase them at a pharmacy.

How to make syrup from sea buckthorn fruits

From freshly picked berries

The washed and dried fruits are loaded in small portions into a food processor and punched for 30 seconds. It is important that the berries lose their original structure and turn into mush.

This mass is transferred to a sieve covered with gauze on top, and while the juice is draining, the next part of the berries is punched in a blender. This is done with all available sea buckthorn. During this procedure, berry skins with seeds are squeezed through a cloth.

A video from the Ksu Sun channel will tell you how to make sea buckthorn juice using a blender.

The amount of resulting juice is measured using a measuring cup or jar with an exact volume. This is done in order to determine the amount of granulated sugar for preparation. For every liter of juice, take 1.2 kilograms of sugar.

The concentrate is mixed with sugar and given time to dissolve on its own. To speed up this process, the mass is slightly heated over a fire, without bringing it to a boil. Heating of 60 - 70 degrees will be quite sufficient.

From frozen berries

Frozen sea buckthorn berries perfectly retain all their beneficial properties. They are not afraid of frost, so in order to postpone the time of preparing the syrup, for example, for the winter period, when there is much more free time, they are frozen.

To prepare the syrup, take 2 kilograms of frozen berries, 900 grams of granulated sugar and 1 glass of boiled water.

Before cooking, the berries are defrosted. This is done gradually: during the first 10 - 12 hours in the refrigerator, then at room temperature.

Thawed berries are passed through a juicer press. You can prepare the juice in the same way as described in the recipe above.

Sea buckthorn juice is mixed with water and sugar. The mixture is heated until the sugar grains dissolve. There is no need to boil the syrup.

Sea buckthorn leaf syrup

From fresh

For 1 glass completely filled with fresh sea buckthorn leaves, take half a liter of water and 500 grams of sugar. The foliage is poured with boiling water and kept under the lid for 4 - 5 hours. After this, the mass is filtered. Sugar is added to the infusion. To thicken the mixture, boil it over medium heat for 10 minutes.

From dried raw materials

Dried leaves (4 tablespoons) are poured with a liter of boiling water. Place the bowl of food on the fire and simmer over low heat for 10 minutes. In another option, the greens are poured with boiling water in a thermos. No additional cooking is needed here.

The herb is infused for 6 - 8 hours and then passed through a sieve. Add 600 grams of sugar to the resulting broth and bring it to a boil.

How to preserve sea buckthorn syrup for the winter

Syrups from sea buckthorn fruits and greens, prepared using the methods described above, can be stored in the refrigerator for quite a long time. To extend the shelf life to six months, it is poured hot into sterilized jars or bottles. The containers are screwed on top with lids, which are also sterilized with boiling water or steam.

If the syrup from the fruit is planned to be used to make cocktails, then it is frozen. To do this, the mass is poured into containers for making ice and sent to the cold, deep into the freezer.After a day, the cubes are removed from the molds and transferred to plastic containers.