Expedited Ginger Herb Xxymel For Winter Sickness
Oxymel is an extraction of herb nutrients using apple cider vinegar and honey. It's a folk medicine practice used in ancient Greece. Comparable to a traditional tincture, infusion or a fire cider, you typically leave oxymel to infuse in a cool, dark and dry space for about a week or two before using. But if you’re in a pinch, you can simmer it for a couple hours then use it right away.
Servings: 16 servings
Equipment
- 1 sterilized mason jar and lid
- 1 kitchen rag make sure it doesnt have any bleach or dyes
- 1 pot deep enough to hold the mason jar
- 1 square of parchment paper
- 1 knife and cutting board
- 1 bowl optional for cleaning/soaking herbs before hand
Ingredients
- ginger root roughly chopped, measure intuitively
- fresh thyme measure intuitively
- fresh oregano measure intuitively
- raw honey equal parts apple cider vinegar
- apple cider vinegar equal parts honey
Instructions
- Sterilize your mason jar by boiling it in a pot for around 10 minutes. Place your rag at the bottom of the pot to prevent the mason jar from breaking against the bottom, fill the pot up with water, then completely submerge the jar and lid (separately/unattached). Use sterilized tongs to take the jar in and out of the pot and be careful about touching the jar once it’s sterilized. After sterilizing, let air dry until it’s completely dry.
- Soak your herbs in a bath of baking soda and vinegar to make sure they are completely clean. Afterwards, pat them dry then let air dry until they’re completely dry.
- Clean then roughly chop ginger root.
- In the sterilized jar, place herbs and ginger root. Then, fill the jar up with equal parts honey and apple cider vinegar (half and half – you can eyeball it). Place a small square of parchment paper on the top of the jar then loosely secure the lid onto the jar. Do not tighten the lid on the jar all the way, you want it to be loose.
- Using the same pot and rag, submerge the mason jar in the pot with fresh water a little above halfway on the jar. Let simmer for about one to two hours.
- Once this is done, remove the jar from the pot and strain the liquid contents into a new jar. You can stir this into tea or just take a little sip straight out of the jar to support immunity or prevent sickness.