Honey and herbs have belonged together for as long as human beings have had access to both. Every ancient civilization that left medical records used honey as both medicine and preparation vehicle. The Egyptians made medicated honeys for wound dressing. Ayurveda considers honey a carrier that enhances the delivery of other herbs into the body. Medieval European apothecaries made their electuaries (herbal pastes) with honey as the base.
Raw honey is antimicrobial, mildly anti-inflammatory, and extraordinarily shelf-stable. It draws constituents from plant material placed in it just as oil or alcohol does, producing a preparation that is both medicinally useful and genuinely pleasant to take.
The Basic Method
Pack your chosen dried herb loosely into a clean glass jar to about a third full. Pour raw honey over the herb until the jar is full, mixing gently to dislodge air bubbles. Cap the jar and place somewhere warm (a sunny windowsill or near a heat source) for one to three weeks, turning gently every day or two. After infusion, gently warm the honey in a double boiler (no hotter than 40 degrees Celsius) to make straining easier, then pour through fine mesh. Press firmly, bottle in a clean jar, and label with herb and date. Dried herb is important: fresh plant material contains moisture that can introduce fermentation.
The Best Herbs to Start With
Thyme honey is one of the most useful preparations in the home apothecary: strongly antimicrobial, excellent for sore throats and coughs (a spoonful in hot water with lemon is an old and effective formula), and deeply aromatic. Lavender honey is beautiful and calming, perfect in nighttime drinks. Rosemary honey is warming and stimulating, good in morning preparations. Ginger honey (using dried sliced ginger) is warming and immune-supportive, one of the best cold-season preparations and excellent stirred into warm water with lemon at the beginning of illness. Elderflower honey, made from dried elderflowers, is gentle, sweetly aromatic, and carries the elder’s immune-modulating properties in a delicious medium.
The Herbalist Codex app has profiles for each of these herbs with their traditional uses in honey-based preparations and the cross-cultural history of medicinal honey. Every jar connects you to a very long tradition of sweet plant medicine.