Greg woke up one morning stopped up and cross about it, and I went to the kitchen and made a batch of this. It is the same syrup I have simmered on that stove for years, out of things that were already in the cupboard, and I do not have to go anywhere for it.

If you want the background on the herbs themselves, what tradition says about each one and how people use them, we keep that on our stuffy nose page. This post is the recipe.

Stopped up noses turn up all year here, with the pollen in spring, the dust at harvest, and whatever is going around in January. I make this for all of it.

Why I Make My Own

It takes about fifteen minutes and costs almost nothing. Every ingredient in it is food, and I know exactly what went in the jar because I put it there. That is most of the reason I have kept making it.

What Goes In

• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup raw honey, local if you can get it
• 1 tablespoon powdered ginger, or 2 tablespoons fresh grated root
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne powder, less if you are shy of heat
• 1 to 2 teaspoons powdered cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon freshly grated horseradish

For children: cut the cayenne back or leave it out, and dilute the dose in water. No honey at all before a first birthday.

How I Make It

Everything goes in a saucepan together. Bring it up to a low simmer for five to ten minutes. Do not let it boil, you want a lazy bubble and nothing more. That is long enough to pull the ginger and the cinnamon into the liquid.

Take it off the heat, strain it through a fine mesh strainer into a glass jar, and let it cool before you seal it. It keeps about two weeks on the counter and a month or more in the refrigerator. The lemon, the vinegar and the honey all work as preservatives.

One thing worth knowing: if you stir the honey in after the pan comes off the heat rather than at the start, you keep more of what raw honey brings with it.

How We Take It

Shake the jar first, it separates. One to two teaspoons, once or several times through the day. If the heat is too much straight off the spoon, stir it into warm water or a mug of tea. Your nose may start running a few minutes later, which is what you are after.

What Each Thing Is Doing In There

• Apple cider vinegar and lemon juice. Two sour liquids people have long used to loosen what is stuck
• Honey. Coats a throat gone raw from blowing and coughing, and it is what makes the rest of it drinkable
• Cayenne. Capsaicin sets off the nerve endings in the nose and the nose runs. Warmth first, then the running
• Warming spices, ginger and cinnamon, both of them a long time in kitchen remedies for the chest and the throat
• Horseradish is the fast one, carrying allyl isothiocyanate, the same compound that sends wasabi straight up behind your eyes

Questions I Get About This Recipe

How long does it keep?

About two weeks in a sealed jar on the counter, a month or more in the refrigerator. The lemon juice, vinegar and honey are doing the preserving. Shake it before each use.

Can I take it every day?

These are all foods, and plenty of people take ginger, honey, lemon and apple cider vinegar daily without being sick at all. Go by how the cayenne sits with you, since that is the part people find they want less of.

Can children have it?

With adjustments. Cut the cayenne in half or leave it out for little ones, and dilute the dose in water or juice. No honey before a first birthday. Ask your pediatrician when you are unsure.

Can I make it without the horseradish?

You can, and it is still worth making. Horseradish is the quickest thing in the jar though, so if you can find a fresh root, use it. Grate it in at the end rather than at the start, since a long simmer drives off most of what makes it worth having.

What if I do not have fresh ginger?

Powdered works. Fresh is stronger, so a tablespoon of powder stands in for about two tablespoons grated.

What We Make Here for This Time of Year

If you want something to keep alongside the syrup, these are the ones people reach for:

• Sniffle Season Tea. What I blend for the stopped up stretch of the year. Brew it strong, breathe the steam off the cup while it steeps, then drink it.
• Chest Tea. The heavier one, for when it has settled lower and the cough is the part that is bothering you.
• Mullein Extract. A concentrated tincture, for people who would rather take a dropper than brew a pot.

The mullein we use is wildcrafted here in Alabama, and there is a good deal more about the plant on our mullein page.

Give it a try and tell me how it goes in the comments. I would like to know whether you leave the cayenne in.

Let Food Be Your Medicine,

Carole

Disclaimer: I am not a medical doctor. Nothing on this website is intended to diagnose, prevent, treat, or cure any health condition. Please consult your healthcare provider for any medical concerns.