elderflower help please

[purplekat]

Hi,
This is my first year picking elderflowers for brewing
All the recipes for anything elderflower related say to add a flowerhead but no stem - so where does the head finish and the stem begin?

I only ask because some of the flowerhead contains what I would call stem so I played it safe and pulled off the flowers but I'm sure I'm just making extra work for myself.

Can anyone photoshop a picture to show all us newbies which bit we're meant to be using please

[shirlthegirl43]

When making elderflower 'champagne' I use the flower head and stalk to the point where all the wee stalks become the main one. For elderflower wine I use just the flowers.

[purplekat]

Thanks.
I've decided it doesn't take that much longer to strip the flowers off so mine just have a tiny bit of stalk on them.

[rustylady]

Use scissors. Cuts the time in half or more.

[Hilary B]

Use scissors. Cuts the time in half or more.

I'm obviously taking too much off. No way would scissors be quick for the level of de-stalking I do (I've tried)

[Twinkle]

I used to use a comb to pull the flowers off the stalks completely

Not now, I just snip off as much of the stalk as possible

[Waffler]

I just chop through the skinny 'tributaries' in most cases. You strain it anyway, so it won't matter.