Make: Earl Grey Throat Drops
Cold season is among us, my friends. Let’s stay prepared…
We all know the symptoms. Stuffy nose, drainage (I’m gonna call drainage glitter from now on, because I really can’t say what I need to say in this post, and use the word drainage one more time). Though I’m not out to cure the common cold, I am here to make things feel a little bit better.
So, we are making throat drops. Yummy ones that are healthy for you because of their minimal — and natural — ingredient list. 4 ingredients, that’s it. Oh, and to make things even easier, you probably have these ingredients sitting right in your kitchen. Let’s do this.
Ingredients:
1 cup Earl Grey tea
1 lemon (juiced)
1/2 cup manuka honey
1 tbsp cloves
Make:
First, make a strong cup of tea. I chose Earl Grey, not only because I love the flavor, especially during this season, but because of the included bergamot. It helps the immune system, and hey, that’s the point of these, right? Feel free to choose any flavor you like (I might do turmeric next). Poor that cup o’ tea in a bottom-heavy pot and stick on the stove top.
Add cloves — they will only be in the pot for a bit before being strained. The oils in cloves are known to help break down the “glitter” in the back of your throat, as well as kill germs.
Squeeze lemon into pot, as little or as much as you’d like. It’ll give you a great vitamin C boost. Pour that sticky manuka honey right off the spoon and let it get the party started. Honey is a natural cough suppressant, and will in tandem soothe the throat.
Allow to boil, strain the cloves out, and get ready for turning up the heat. You want this bad boy bubbling hot — up to 300 degrees (be careful)! If you aren’t one to have a candy thermometer just hangin’ around, (like me), grab a glass of ice water and drop a tiny bit of the mixture into the glass. If it solidifies, it’s done.
Carefully spoon the mixture onto parchment paper. I put my paper over a marble slab, so it would be extra cool and harden quickly. This is the fun part — you finished! Don’t fret if they aren’t perfect circles. I mean, look at my mess. 😉 Let the drops harden. Recycle the sheet of parchment you already used, and cut the drops into squares, stack a layer on top. Easy peasy, am I right?
I put mine in a tiny canvas pouch and dropped it in my daily backpack just in case.
Give these a try, tell me what you think, and if you have any other tips to make the cold season feel a little smoother, let us know in the comments!
Follow FP Madisyn on Instagram + take a peek at her blog!