For coughs and throat things particularly, not so much for head colds, we make our own cough syrup out of horehound, honey and brandy.
We make it in a 4 gallon kettle, filling the kettle as full as possible with chopped fresh horehound (from the garden) then filling it up with water and simmering for hours until the horehound is dead and limp.
Then you strain and simmer the water down to about a quarter of its original volume.
To this we add about an equal part of honey and then simmer it back down to half.
When it's cool enough not to evaporate the brandy, you add about an equal part of brandy to this syrup.
Works like a charm every time. Honesty. Even my kid, who hates the taste, comes and asks for it when she has a cough, because she knows it works better than anything cherry-flavoured from the store.
We go through quarts of this stuff every winter, mostly because people try it and come back and ask for more so we're forever sending folks off with a bottle. The farthest request we've had came from our Tibetan friend who lives up in the Himalayas. Worked for him so well that we ended up sending a bottle up there with a traveler who was going trekking *g*
For sinus and head cold stuff, a similar syrup made with Spikenard Root (a real bitch to dig and cut though) is supposed to be excellent. I don't take it because I am the only person on the planet who is allergic to Spikenard (according to all the herbalists) *g*
Joy
(10/14/01)
(Disclaimer: Standard disclaimer for any attributes stated in the recipe above. Use at your own risk, etc., and so forth. "We" are not responsible or liable for any claims made.)
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