A spoonful of sugar - discussing (medicinal) herbal syrups

It's been years since I've been able to dry the airy parts of some of my herbs successfully, especially those with large or thick leaves. The Ottawa River valley is notoriously humid to begin with; we've had a few really really humid summers in a row and this one, phew, it's been downright wet (but at least not hot!).

So, as with the past few summers, I have to find other ways to preserve my herbs for winter. One of those ways is by making syrups. I've been told that the pioneer women in my region nearly always preserved their herbs as syrups. I don't know how accurate that is, but I can see the reasoning. Syrups are instantly available, they can be easily turned into a cup of hot, sweet tea, and they're (let's face it) easier to get down the throat of a recalcitrant child (or husband) (or farm hand). In days of yore, tinctures weren't the 'thing' they are now, booze being at a premium or verboten. I wonder about the availability of sugar to a housewife way up in the bush, though ..



Still, I like the syrups. Sugar does have its uses. If you're nursing someone who can barely eat, it supplies them with a little energy. It's also antibacterial, just like honey is - yes, really. Here is a nifty article about using sugar to boost antibiotics, if you don't believe me. In Scotland, they used to use jam on cuts! So when you've got, say, tonsillitis going on, a sugary syrup coats the throat nicely while augmenting the medicine, and that's both soothing and healing.

Of course herb syrups can be made with honey and if you have lots at your disposal, have at 'er. I just can't afford that. Herbal medicine is people's medicine, we use what we have on hand. Right? Right.

Before beginning this post I took a little tour around the internet and yep, just as I thought, there are thousands of blog posts about how to make and why to take herbal syrups. It seems, though, that many of them are, well, wrong (heh heh). Okay, not wrong, just .. not how I do it. If you want to use essential oils in your syrups (please don't) then you'll find how-to's elsewhere, not here. If you want to use tropicals like ginger & spices, you'll find those how-to's elsewhere too. But if you want to use what you have in your garden & weed patch, you've come to the right place. The other difference between most herb syrups I see out there and mine is that mine are made strong. Not necessarily with more herbs, just with more time. (And I suppose, patience.)

Here's my how-to:

If using mellow tasting roots (burdock, dandelion, mallow), they can be either fresh or dried. I simmer them, gently, for at LEAST 20 minutes. Let cool, then simmer them again. I keep at it, off and on, until I'm sure those roots are exhausted. (This is called decocting). Sometimes I can let the roots dry out and use them again. I have to be willing to experiment, because quality will differ from one batch to the next. As to amounts, that's something I have to eyeball and experiment with as well. I generally use a small handful of well chopped up root to about 6 cups of water by this method.

If using airy parts of the plants (flowers, leaves), I use fresh, always, and gently tear them up into bite size pieces if the leaves are large, trying not to bruise them too much. I steep, I don't simmer them, meaning I pour boiling water over the plant material and cover it. I just did a batch of mullein leaf, and I actually kept it on low low low heat for about an hour, watching it like a hawk to make sure it didn't come close to simmering, I just wanted it to stay hot; now I'm going to let it steep off the heat, overnight.

If I'm mixing the two, I toss the airy parts in when my roots are on their last steep.

If I'm adding herbs with volatile oils (the smelly, strong ones like sage, thyme, rosemary or monarda), I'll gently reheat my liquid, add my volatiles, and strain after about 15 minutes. They can overpower a mixture, so I use them sparingly.

Next I strain & measure my liquid, put it on low heat (uncovered) and let it reduce by steaming. At no point do I let it boil or even simmer, I keep it so low. After a couple of hours (I do not leave the kitchen and I set the timer to remind me to check it every 15 minutes or so), once it is reduced to half or sometimes even a third, I measure it again. Then I add my sugar (either in equal or half amounts of my liquid), stir til it is thoroughly dissolved and pour it, hot, into sterilized jars. IF I am using bottles, I let it cool before I put the lid on. Mostly I use mason jars, and those can be lidded right away, then I get a good seal. Just like with making jam or jelly, I let them rest on a tea towel 24 hrs before I put them away. I refrigerate mine.

The higher amount of sugar = better keeping, but in some cases you just don't want it that sweet. This isn't for pouring over pancakes, this is medicine, so it needn't be thick. Adding tinctures or just brandy will help it keep longer, but generally, I'll add whatever tincture I might want to pair it with at time of use, if at all.

Which herbs? How do I choose?

I generally don't make blends, I prefer 'simples', as they're called (one herb at a time). Some (most?) herbs have several uses, and if they're in a blend that's going to limit me. For example, mallow roots can be either for sore throats/coughs, or to relieve constipation (among other things). If my mallow is blended with mullein, that's fine for coughs, but not needed if I'm trying to soothe someone's sore belly. And if there's mallow in with the mullein, I might accidentally move the bowels when I just want to soothe someone's cough (woops!).

There are exceptions, of course (always!). My mullein syrup is single use (coughs & congestion), so I like to add sage or thyme to give it an antibacterial/antiviral boost. Fruity things can make good, medicinal syrups as well - hawthorn berries, rosehips, and some day when my barberries fruit I intend to use them, too. And onion syrup is a thing (for chest colds). Garlic, too, but generally I just blend my garlic with honey without heating it.

Another rule of thumb is that I use what's known as the nutritive medicinal herbs in syrups, they're already kinda sweet tasting; I don't use the bitters. Bitters need to be bitter, the taste shouldn't be masked or our bodies just don't use them as effectively. I suppose figuring out which herbs take to syrups and which don't is a matter of experience, and taste. I suppose you could make nettle syrup, if it was nice and strong, because nettle is both nutritious and medicinal.

Ah, and here I'm going to have to fumble my way through the distinction between 'nutritive' and 'nutritious'... nutrition is obvious, that's yer minerals and vitamins, they're best suited to infusions and taken in quantity, they're essentially foods. Oatstraw is a good example of that. 'Nutritive' - mallow is a good example - is a term I've been seeing writers/herbalists like Matthew Wood, Kiva Rose and Jim Macdonald use for those herbs that are also nourishing but not something we take in large quantities. They tend to be demulcents, soothing to the digestive system, (often healing to leaky gut) and so allow for better uptake of nutrients from the rest of our diet. The bitters, on the other hand, can also help with that better uptake but they do so by stimulating (the gall bladder into action, for example, or digestive juices of the stomach), so they're taken in even smaller quantities; so not only would a syrup mask the taste to the detriment of the remedy, it would be tricky to get the dosage right.

Then there's the water soluble vs alcohol soluble qualities of the herbs to think about. You could make St John'swort syrup I suppose, but it would be a very different critter than the tincture. If you start experimenting, keep in mind that the really strong medicinal tasting herbs need to be treated with respect. You would NOT want to be steeping St John'swort, or motherwort or mugwort or yarrow for anything more than a few minutes or it could all end in tears. Even the seemingly benign chamomile, steeped too long or taken in too large a quantity is an emetic (makes you barf) .. but as a very light syrup, who knows, it might safe .. nah, I wouldn't risk it. Easier to make a cup of chamomile tea!

How to take them?

It depends on the herb, of course, but because the syrups are made from very safe herbs, they can be taken 'as needed'. Straight from the spoon is the norm, but you can also use it in tea or even as tea, just stir into hot water. Mullein is nice that way because then you can inhale the steam from your cup and mullein steam is good medicine. No reason why a spoonful can't go into a smoothie, or even on your mashed potatoes (hey, don't knock it. Onion syrup on mashed potatoes, why not?)