The Remedy Practice
Create an Herbal Bitters Blend
The herbal blood-building syrup is a classic recipe within traditional western herbalism. Syrups are essentially sweetened teas with a multi-month long shelf life - so if you can make tea you can make a syrup! The primary decision to make with a syrup is what preservative you want to use. Most recipes call for a preservative like sugar or honey, but you'll also find vegetable glycerine occasionally recommended for a sugar-free option. I like to use local honey, but sugar (preferably minimally processed) are a great inexpensive option, too.
Why would you use a syrup over another form of herbal remedy? If you don't use alcohol in the preservation process they can be nice alternatives to alcohol-based extracts like tinctures. Syrups are often very pleasant tasting and can help those with taste sensitivities (like the very young and the very old) take their herbal remedy with less complaining. If you use honey in your syrup it has inherent antimicrobial, antimicrobial, and antioxidant qualities as well as being soothing to sore throats and helping to restore energy during and after an illness (one of the reasons why it's a common ingredient in diy electrolyte drinks). Finally, an herbal syrup can also be a simple pleasure and for those who grew up taking sweet syrups as medicine, an herbal syrup can feel nourishing and comforting - not something to overlook in healing work.
First make your herbal tea. While not absolutely essential, for an additional step against spoilage and fermentation, it's recommended that your herbal tea be decocted rather than infused. If you're making a syrup with herbs that would lose their healing qualities with decoction (like Valeriana officinalis), infusion is still a fine method.
Infusion Ratio: A general recommended ratio of herbs to water is 25 grams (1 ounce) dried herb per 500 ml (1 pint or 2 cups) of water. I typically use a higher ratio of herbs (closer to 50 grams or 2 ounces) and administer smaller doses.
Place your herbs to your stovetop pot, add cold water, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and gently simmer until half of the liquid remains. A trick for figuring out when you've boiled off half of your water from herbalist James Green: Before boiling "[s]tick a chopstick straight down into the center of the liquid touching the bottom of the pot. Withdraw the stick and make a mark at the water line… slowly evaporat[e] the water until the surface of the liquid marks a point half as high on the chopstick as the original watermark."¹
Strain your herbs. Next, you'll be adding your preservative (see ratios below). If you are using sugar you can add it when the liquid is still hot to help the sugar fully dissolve. If you are using honey, wait until the water has cooled to room temperature so as not to destroy the healing qualities of honey through overheating.
Preservative Ratio: 30 - 60 ml (or 2 to 4 ounces or ½ to 1 cup) of sweet preservative (like sugar or honey) to your herbal infusion. See notes on preservation in Remediations below.
Once you've made your syrup it's ready to enjoy! Store your herbal syrup in clean, sterilized glass jars and store it in the fridge. Refrigerated, a 1:1 ratio herbal syrup will typically last for 6 months or longer, while a 2:1 ratio herbal syrup will last 3 to 4 months. Of course, the addition of alcohol or vegetable glycerin will increase shelf life.
Standard dosage is typically ½ to 1 teaspoon up to 3 to 4 times daily.
Blood Building Herbal Syrup
A variation of an herbal vinegar I used to sell back in my market days that was called "Tough as Nails." This syrup helps to "build the blood" through iron-rich and circulatory tonic herbs.
Blend together the following herbs:
2 parts Burdock (Arctium lappa)
4 parts Nettle (Urtica dioica)
2 parts Dandelion Leaf (Taraxacum officinale)
1 part Dandelion Root (Taraxacum officinale)
1 part Hawthorn Berry (Crataegus monogyna)
Optional: Local edible seaweed or local iron-rich plant ally
Create herbal syrup with your preferred preservatives.
I created my original recipe when living off the coast of Maine where edible seaweed was in abundance, so I included local seaweed in my recipe (purchased dried at the local co-op). My love for the way herbalism is shaped by regional cultures and plants is from these early days in my practice of traveling all over the US and whenever I can I like to include local plants for local people. So, if you have a local blood-building plant ally in your region I encourage you to look into including it in your iron-building herbal syrup.
Purple Masala Herbal Syrup
A spiced version of a classic Elderberry (Sambucus nigra) syrup that is great to make at the turn of the seasons helping not only with colds and flu, but with allergies, too. Antioxidant rich Purple Masala also helps protect the vascular system from damage. This is very much a "blend to taste" sort of recipe. I sometimes make my own masala blend with whole spices, but I also like to use a powdered pre-made blend, too.² I think fresh Ginger makes a difference in taste, but use what you have or omit altogether.
4 parts Elderberry (Sambucus nigra)
½ - 1 part fresh Ginger (Zingiber officinale)
½ part part powdered masala blend
or
Add whole (in rough order of amount) Cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum), Cinnamon (Cinnamomum spp.), Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare), Black Pepper (Piper nigrum), Cloves (Syzygium aromaticum).
So, if I was starting with 500 ml of water, I might add 5 Cardamom pods, half a Cinnamon small stick, a generous ¼ teaspoon of Fennel, ½ teaspoon of Black Pepper, and 1 to 2 Cloves.
Preservatives: Depending on what I have on hand, I'll make a 2:1 ratio either using coconut sugar or a mix of honey and maple syrup. I make small amounts of herbal syrup, they are always refrigerated, and Elder syrup in particular doesn't last long in my household, so I'm not too worried about super high quality preservatives. If I were sharing this with others and wanted to take extra care, I would use honey with just a touch of maple syrup at a 1:1 ratio. If they consumed alcohol I might add some Elderberry tincture as well.
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Remediations: I was taught that a 1:1 ratio of herbal infusion to preservative produced a stable and long-lasting syrup (which I've found to be true), but I find that way too sweet and typically do a 2:1 ratio and just refrigerate the syrup and make sure to use it up within a few months. The 1:1 ratio was developed at a time before modern refrigeration, so unless you really need a shelf-stable syrup, a 2:1 ratio is often a good option. You can also add a sweet alcohol like brandy or an appropriate tincture to strengthen preservative qualities of your syrup or vegetable glycerin (something to consider if you're giving the syrup as gifts and want to reduce the chance of spoilage in the hands of folks who might store the syrup properly). A 1:3 or 1:4 ratio of herbal syrup (so your herbal infusion and sweet preservative combined) to vegetable glycerin or alcohol are typically recommended.
Also, herbal oil massage is very helpful when it comes to circulatory health. You can check out the Path of Relics or the Path of Maps for instructions on making herbal oils or herbals salves, respectively.
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Footnotes
James Green, The Herbal Medicine-Maker's Handbook: A Home Manual (Berkeley, CA: Crossing Press, 2002), 296.
My current favorite spice shop is Diaspora Spice Co.. All of their spices (and ethics) are exceptional, but if you're looking for medicinally potent Turmeric (Curcuma longa) powder and pretty great Cacao (Theobroma cacao) powder, this is a good place to explore.
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