White Pine Cough Syrup

[urbanforager]

Hello everyone!

 

I'm a bit tardy in posting this, sorry. But over New Year's I was down with a sore throat, so I thought I'd spend some time in the kitchen with my Advanced Potions book.

I taught myself to identify White Pine. It's the one with long, soft needles arranged in groups of four or five, and long, slender, cylindrical cones (4-8 inches long). This is the only variety of pine you want to use for tea or medicine -- the other varieties have too high a concentration of turpentine. I made some Pine Needle tea (surprisingly good, and very mild, and loaded with Vitamin C) and some White Pine Cough Syrup. It's the latter recipe I wanted to share with everyone here.

Make pine-bark cough syrup by filling a jar with white pine bark and hot water. Steep for a few hours. For every cup of water, add 3/4 cup vodka or brandy (I used vodka). Let it infuse for a day, then strain. Add honey (1/2 cup to 1 cup -- I used 1/2 cup) to improve the taste and preserve the syrup. Take 1 teaspoonful at a time for cough.

This is quite a bit milder than I expected it to be. I was feeling better by the time I finished making it, and I hadn't had a cough anyways, just a sore throat. But this made me wish I had a cough, just so I could snarf down a few spoonfuls!

My sister, who loves me, gave me a copy of Euell Gibbons' Stalking the Wild Asparagus for Christmas. He gives another cough syrup recipe in there, that doesn't include alcohol. Take 1 cup red clover blossoms, 1 cup finely cut white pine sprigs, 1 cup finely chopped mullein, and 1/2 cup finely chopped wild cherry bark (inner bark). Place all ingredients in a pan and cover with 1 quart water. Simmer gently for 20 minutes, then strain and add 1 pint of honey to the tea. Bring this to a second boil, then pour into sterilized bottles and cap tightly. Take 1 teaspoonful at a time as needed.

Gibbons says to make this in June or July, using fresh ingredients. I have them all, but in dried form. I'm thinking of making a batch from dried material, then from fresh herbs next year, and seeing which is more efficacious. I made the White Pine cough syrup now because I found some downed limbs, so I didn't have to break any branches off to get some bark.

I hope this helps anyone who needs it!

 

[zzelle]

thanks for sharing