Here are 5 easy-to-make, no cook, naturally flavored honey syrups
that can be a home remedy to soothe a sore throat or cough. They're also
a tasty way to add natural, nutrient-rich flavors to hot tea or water.
A home remedy that works! Combinations of honey,
lemon, and tea are age old remedies for soothing a cough or sore throat.
Turns out there's actually some science behind them; these old remedies
can really work! What luck that they taste good, too--way better than
those drug store cough syrups.
Studies have shown that honey can calm a cough as well as, or even better than, over-the-counter cough medicines. Honey has antimicrobial
and antioxidant properties and can fight bacteria. Combine it with the
nutrients in lemons & other citrus, herbs, and spices, and you've
got a natural, delicious way to treat cold and flu symptoms. Blends of
honey and citrus can be swallowed straight from a spoon or stirred into
hot water or tea. The steam and warmth of hot tea and water are also
soothing to sore throats and can relieve stuffiness.
- Warning: Never give
honey to a child younger than age 1 due to the risk of infant botulism, a
rare but serious form of food poisoning.
Honey, lemon, & cinnamon may help with weight loss, too.
There is so much conflicting information out there about using honey
vs. sugar as a sweetener. It's hard to sort it all out. I have heard
& read frequently that honey is metabolized in the same way as
sugar, and that they have basically the same effect on the body.
However, some recent studies in
Nutrition Research and
Scientific World Journal conclude
that natural, unprocessed honey can help with weight loss. They
recommend honey as a healthier sweetener than sugar. Lemon and cinnamon
have also been found to contribute to weight loss. Combining the 3 in a
honey lemon cinnamon tea can be a winner for both weight loss and
calming a cough or sore throat.
Source: Livestrong
A great gift for a sick friend or tea lover! I
always want to do something for a friend who is under the weather, but
never know how to help. A jar of one of these syrups is just the thing.
They are such delicious stir-ins for flavoring hot tea or water, that
they make a great gift for tea loving friends, too. I have a printable
gift tag you can attach to the jar. You'll find it further down in this
post.
My kitchen laboratory. After
seeing a variety of honey and sore throat concoctions on Pinterest (see
links at bottom of this post), I've spent some time over the past
couple of months experimenting with infusing honey with different blends
of citrus, herbs, and spices. My goal was to create combos that taste
good and are thought to have healing powers.
- Disclaimer! I have absolutely no training in
nutrition or medicine. My syrups are all based on information I've
gathered on the internet. Of course, if you are experiencing severe cold
or flu symptoms, or have diabetes or other health conditions, you
should consult a doctor.
Here's a peek at some of the samples
that have been hanging out in my fridge that combine a variety of
citrus, herbs, spices, and honeys:
I settled on 5 favorite flavor combinations that I'm sharing today.
Truth is, they're not just for soothing a sore throat or cough. These
syrups taste fabulous stirred into hot water and tea even if you aren't
sick. I've loved having them on hand for flavoring my afternoon cup of
tea.
Step-by-step photos for making
5 Honey Citrus Syrups
Ingredients (all chosen for their nutrient-rich qualities, along with good flavor):
- honey -- I used regular pure, unfiltered honey and buckwheat honey. I
initially purchased both at Whole Foods, but found a better bulk price
on Amazon.
- citrus -- lemons, limes, oranges, and clementines
- herbs -- fresh rosemary & mint
- spices -- ginger (fresh or dried/ground), whole cloves, ground cinnamon, ground cardamom
Here are links to information about nutrition and healing benefits of:
fresh or dried/ground ginger,
cloves & cardamom,
cinnamon,
peppermint,
rosemary,
citrus
Organic, washed citrus recommended. Because the
fruit isn't peeled, I highly recommend using organic citrus in these
syrups. Wash it well, too, to remove any possible contaminants.
What you should know about honey. Well, there's a lot. You'll find a good summary
here. For the purpose of making these syrups, here are some tips:
- Unprocessed, local honey is best. There are various degrees of
processing available. Raw honey is the least processed and has the most
nutrients. It is however more expensive and less widely available. If
using regular honey (not raw), look for 100% pure, unfiltered, unheated
varieties. I found some at my grocery store.
- When honey is exposed to high heat it loses many of its nutrients and benefits. Avoid pasteurized honey that has been exposed to high heat. Microwaving honey is not recommended.
- Honey comes in many varieties with different flavors depending on
where the honey bees collected their pollen. The darker the honey color,
the stronger its flavor, and the higher its nutrients and antioxidants.
- Buckwheat honey is among the most nutrient rich honeys and has been
found to be an effective cough suppressant. It is very dark and has a
strong molasses flavor. Some like it, some don't. I prefer to mix it
half and half with milder honeys for the best flavor & nutrient
combo, and to save money (buckwheat honey is more expensive than lighter
honeys). You can read more about buckwheat honey here and here.
- Honey should be stored at room temperature to avoid crystallization.
It has natural preservatives and will not spoil. If it does
crystallize, set it in a bowl of hot water for a few minutes to restore
its consistency. This amount of heat will not compromise its nutrients.
(Note: The honey syrups in this post should be refrigerated,
because they contain citrus and herbs. The combination of ingredients
keeps them from crystallizing in the fridge.)
view on Amazon: regular pure organic honey, 5 lbs. pure orange blossom honey (value priced), 1 lb. buckwheat honey, 5 lbs. buckwheat honey (value priced--if you plan on using a lot, this is the best price I've found)
Slice the citrus into rounds. I quarter the rounds of larger citrus
like oranges, and half the rounds of limes, lemons, and clementines.
Using ginger. I tested these syrups using both fresh
and ground dried ginger, and ended up preferring the ground dried
version for the best & easiest flavor punch. Plus, I didn't have to
worry about the dried ginger spoiling. (You still get the
nutritional benefits of ginger
in it's dried form.) If you prefer to use fresh ginger, I recommend
grating it rather than slicing it. In my samples using sliced ginger, I
could hardly taste the ginger--grating it helped.
- Fresh ginger tips: Peel it easily with the tip of a spoon. Grate it with a Microplane.
view on Amazon: Microplane (I also use this for grating garlic and Parmesan cheese; and zesting citrus)
How to stack and mix the syrup ingredients. I'm assembling a lemon ginger honey jar in the illustration below:
- Add half of the lemon slices, then half of the ginger, then half of
the honey; give it a stir with a chopstick, table knife, or other long
thin object. Move the lemon slices around to make sure the honey runs
between them.
- Repeat with the remaining lemon, ginger, and honey; stir and top off with more honey, if needed, to fill the jar.
- This can be done in any size jar. I used half-pint (1 cup jars). The
jars should be approx. 3/4 full with citrus. This allows room for at
least 1/2 cup of honey per jar.
- Hint for assembling prettier jars (if you care about that): place
some of the lemon slices vertically down the sides of the jar so that
full slices are visible from the outside. They tend to stack
horizontally otherwise.
view on Amazon: 1/2 pint jars, reuseable plastic lids for jars
From thick to thin syrup. Within 3-4 hours the syrup
is ready to use. The honey draws the juices out of the citrus, so give
it a stir to combine the honey and juice. The result is that the thick
honey transforms into a thin syrup consistency. If you prefer a thicker
consistency, increase the ratio of honey to citrus in your jars.
- Another way to thicken this is to
heat & simmer the mixture for approx. 15 minutes; the honey and
pectin in the citrus will naturally gel as it cools. However heat
destroys many of the nutrients. Personally, I'm happy with these in a
thinner syrup consistency so that I benefit from as many nutrients as
possible.
5 Citrus Honey Syrup Flavor Varieties:These are my favorite combinations of the ones I tested.
1. Lemon Ginger Honey
2. Clementine Cardamom Honey
3. Lime Mint Honey.
(Note: After about a week the delicate mint leaves begin to darken and
should be removed to avoid decay and spoilage. The mint flavor remains
infused into the honey.)
4. Lemon Rosemary Honey
5. Orange Clove Honey(cinnamon may be added to this one, too, if you like)
3 honey combos. Below are the Orange Clove Honey Syrups made with different honey combinations.
- all regular light honey (mine was an orange blossom honey)
- half regular honey and half buckwheat
honey -- a nice blend of mild and strong flavored honeys; this is my
personal favorite for enjoying good flavor along with the nutrients in
buckwheat honey
- all buckwheat honey -- honestly, I didn't like the flavor of this one at all--way too strong for my palette.
Storage and shelf life. These should be covered and
stored in the refrigerator. As you use the syrups, you may continue to
add more honey to the jars to keep them full. They are good for at
least 2-3 months, maybe longer. Honey is a natural preservative; and
citrus has a low pH (high acidic) level that gives it preservative
power, too. If you add other more fragile fresh ingredients (like mint
leaves), the syrup may not keep as long. I haven't tried using
food-grade essential oils in these, but that may be another option for
adding flavor and nutrients that won't spoil.
How to use these syrups:
- Swallow a spoonful or two of honey syrup to soothe a cough or sore throat.
- Stir a heaping tablespoon (or more to taste) into a cup of hot water.
- Stir a heaping tablespoon (or more to taste) into a cup of hot tea.
A great gift for an ailing friend or tea lover!
Print a sheet of these tags for adding the finishing touch to a gift jar of honey citrus syrup.
To use the tags:
- Print these on card stock, cut them out with scissors, punch a hole in the corner, and hang them from a ribbon or string.
- Print them on sticker paper and stick them to your gift. Or, stick them on with tape.
If you don't have a printer or specialty papers, you can have a store with printing services download and print them for you.
Click on this image to download a printable sheet of tags:
These make a unique, thoughtful get well gift. Or, an "any time" gift for tea lovers.
I've been fortunate not to have caught the flu that's been going
around. Nevertheless, I've been stirring these tasty syrups into my hot
tea regularly. They give it just enough flavor and sweetness.
Make it a Yummy day!
Monica
Honey Citrus Syrups
By Monica
Ingredients
- honey -- pure, unfiltered, unheated
- buckwheat honey (optional)*
- citrus: lemons, oranges, limes, Clementines
- herbs: fresh rosemary & mint
- dried spices: whole cloves, ground ginger, ground caramom, ground cinnamon
Directions
GENERAL DIRECTIONS FOR FILLING JARS: (see specific ingredients for flavor combinations below)
Slice
citrus into rounds. Cut rounds into halves or quarters so they will
easily fit inside jar. In half-pint (1 cup) jar, add half of citrus,
herbs/spices, and honey; stir gently to mix. Add remaining half of
ingredients; stir gently. Top off with more honey, if needed, to fill
jar. Cover and store in refrigerator. After 4 hours, stir to combine
honey with citrus juices that have released. Syrup is ready to use.
Will keep in refrigerator for up to 1-2 months. As syrup is used, may
continue to top off jar with additional honey.
RECOMMENDED FLAVOR
COMBINATIONS (These are approximate measurements, since citrus sizes
can vary. As a guideline, jar should be approx. 3/4 full of citrus,
leaving room for approx. 1/2 cup or more honey.)
--LEMON GINGER
HONEY: 1-2 lemons, 1 teaspoon ground ginger (or 2 tsp. grated fresh
ginger), 1/2 cup honey (or enough to fill jar).
--ORANGE CLOVE HONEY:
1/2 orange, 16 whole cloves, 1/2 cup honey (or enough to fill jar).
Optional: 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon also may be added.
--CLEMENTINE CARDAMOM HONEY: 1-2 Clementines, 1 teaspoon ground cardamom, 1/2 cup honey (or enough to fill jar).
--LIME
MINT HONEY: 1-2 limes, 6-8 fresh mint leaves, 1/2 cup honey (or enough
to fill jar). Remove mint leaves from jar after 1 week to prevent
spoilage.
--LEMON ROSEMARY HONEY: 1-2 lemons, 3 sprigs fresh rosemary, 1/2 cup honey (or enough to fill jar).
*May
use all regular honey, all buckwheat honey, or a mixture of half of
each. Many find the buckwheat honey flavor to be too strong, so
combining it with regular honey is a good compromise.
http://www.herbsandoilsworld.com/honey-citrus-syrups/
