Pine Needle Cough Syrup
Making pine needle cough syrup is super easy and no more work than making a very strong pine tea and then mixing it with good quality, raw, local honey.
Materials
- 1 cup chopped fresh green pine needles
- 1¼ cup filtered or spring water
- ½ cup of raw honey
Instructions
- Gather a fresh pine branch, shake it off to get rid of any insects, and pick the needles clean off the branch. If you’re working with long needles, like those of an eastern white pine, cut them up into half an inch to one inch pieces. There’s no need to chop up smaller conifer needles.
- Place 1 cup of your roughly chopped pine needles in a small pot and cover with 1 ¼ cups of boiling water.
- Put a cover on your pot and remove it from the heat. You never want to boil your pine needle tea as this tends to break down the vitamin C.
- Allow your pine needles to steep in the hot water until it cools to room temperature. Around 30 minutes.
- Strain the needles out using cheesecloth or a fine mesh strainer.
- Mix the remaining liquid into the ½ cup of honey.
Notes
To keep the syrup fresh as long as possible, store it in a covered jar in the refrigerator. To extend its shelf life even more, freeze it in baggies or ice cube trays and then thaw as needed before use.