Herbal Cough Syrup Experiments

So my hubby Matt has had this low grade annoying flu bug for the past two weeks along with a dry, annoying, unproductive cough. Since we have pretty crapy health insurance he didn't want to go to the doctor and add more to our already building bill. So I set about to pulling together some herbs for a cough remedy.

My first attempt was the Cough Be Gone & Sore Throat Syrup recipe out of Rosemary Gladstar's Family Herbal.


It called for fennel, licorice root, slippery elm, valerian, wild cherry bark, cinnimon bark, ginger root and orange peel. I didn't have any wild cherry bark but I went ahead and made it anyway. It soothes his throat and calmed the cough but only for about 20 minutes. I guessed that either the wild cherry was a key ingredient. But also after assessing him further I realized that he most likely needed more of an expectorant syrup. So I went back to work.

I have plently or Horehound on hand as I have a very healthy plant. But I could only find recipes for a straight single ingredient syrup. Not what I wanted. So back to the books! My final recipe ended up containing horehound, passionflower, valerian, mallowroot, anise, wild yam, peppermint, ginger and basil. After making a strong decoction, I sweetened and thickened it with local organic honey.

So far he has been using this for 3 days with good success. He gets about 3-4 hours cough relief from a single tablespoon dosage. And he is also feeling much better overall health wise. Now, he has also been taking daily doses of the afore mentioned Astragalus tincture. So, it may be the combination of the two giving him the feeling of overall wellness. But either way, I'll take the results!

Here is a picture of the finished syrup.

Great recipe! When my kids were little I used to make a simple cough syrup of wild cherry bark, slippery elm and chamomile, had a "Magick" Bombilla tea straw with jewels on it they only got to use when drinking medicinal teas, made it so they wanted to take it!..lol

see one here
Artisan Yerba Mate Gourd and Bombilla Straw
http://www.herbs-teas.com/item/Artisan-Yerba-Mate-Gourd-and-Bombilla-Straw-458