Ok, so Covid is a thing that pretty much everyone has these days, present company included. In the early days, fever and achy pains kept me mostly horizontal, and herbal remedies in the form of tinctures were easiest to relieve Covid symptoms. But then I decided to give making my own cough drops a try, both for a little sugar and just to see what happens.
Spoiler alert: they aren’t easy, but I will absolutely make them again. They can be customized with herbal tinctures to treat the symptoms you are experiencing, and the herb blend I used – bee balm, lemon balm, and blue spruce – relieved my Covid symptoms naturally.
Herbal Cough Drops
Ingredients
1 cup sugar (see Recipe Notes)
½ cup honey
½ cup herbal tea (I used peppermint that I grew, brewed strong)
½ to ¾ teaspoon peppermint or lemon extract
1 to 2 droppers of herbal tincture (see Recipe Notes)
You’ll need: powdered sugar (or candy molds) and a candy thermometer
Method
You don’t need candy molds to make these. Place several inches of powder sugar into a 9” x 13” glass pan and use your fingertip to create indentations. These will hold the melted sugar mixture.
Place sugar, honey, and tea in a heavy, high-sided saucepan and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Over medium to medium-high heat, continue to cook until the sugar reaches 300 degrees. This can take 15 to 25 minutes, but keep an eye on it. Overflowed sugar is catastrophically messy, and burnt sugar is terrible.
Once your sugar has reached the temperature, stir in the extract and herbal tinctures of your choice, then transfer the mixture to a Pyrex measuring cup for easy pouring.
Pour sugar into the powdered sugar dents (or candy molds if using) and allow it to cool. Toss cough drops in powdered sugar and store them in an airtight container.
Sift the powdered sugar to remove stray candy bits and feel free to re-use.
Recipe Notes
*Honey can be a difficult flavor, and it burns easily. You can replace some or all of the honey with sugar, or you can use all honey. Just keep an eye on the mixture as it cooks — if it doesn’t reach 300 degrees before scorching, the cough drops will still be great (if a little chewy).
*Good herbal tinctures to use for cold and flu relief are:
- Lemon balm
- Bee balm
- Mullein
- Blue spruce
- Yarrow
- Nettle
- Mint
- Elderberry
- Echinacea