DIY: Herbal Syrups for Health and The Sweettooth

Peppermint-lemon balm syrup on the left,
calendula syrup on the right.

Preparing your own herbal syrups is one of the ways to preserve the flavors and medicinal properties of your favorite herbs for later. Those syrups come in handy also preparing different sweet dishes, you know - syrup means a lot of sugar. I know, it doesn't sound very healthy, on the other hand, syrups you buy in pharmacy to fight colds and sore throat are packed with sugar exactly the same way. You can preserve herbs in many other ways without adding sugar as well, but this time - syrup it is. To make it healthier you can replace sugar by honey, or at least some amount of sugar can be replaced by the same amount of honey, of course, if you aren't allergic to honey, in the second case - sugar it is.

You will need: 

1 kg of sugar or honey

1 l of water

200 - 500 g of fresh herbs

Optional for better long-term preservation and enhancing the flavor: 1-2 tablespoons of lemon juice or juice of 1/2 a lemon. You can also add a few slices of lemon with peels cut into small pieces. 

Basically you take the same amount of sugar and water. 1l of water = 1kg of sugar,  1 cup of sugar = 1 cup of water. If you have another good method of making strong syrup with different measurement ratios, feel free to apply it. This is classic water: sugar ratio. I believe that absolutely precise measurements aren't the essence of cooking and canning. For long-term preservation and storing in the cellar I would advice to stick to the classics.

Now, herbs. For restful sleep and winter colds I've made meadowsweet syrup (read about meadowsweet here)- it has a slight hint of bitterness to it, but, oh, it's gorgeous. For sore throat and colds nothing beats calendula syrup (read about calendula here), but for refreshment, alertness and refreshing drinks in summer season the one you would appreciate the most would be peppermint syrup. Those are not the only herbs to use for making your own syrups. To choose your herbs for syrup think of what goes well with sugar or honey. Think of a tea cup. Lemon balm, lavender and lemongrass are popular herbs for making syrups. Basil, rosemary, thyme and fennel are used in making syrups as well. So far, I'm sticking to meadowsweet, peppermint, peppermint-lemon balm

and calendula. Of course, you can make fruit and berry syrups as well, but this time let's stay with herbs. Basically, if you have an access to plenty of any herb you love, you can make syrup with it - it's as simple as that. 

How much of herbs you need? To be honest, I don't know what's the best ratio. Every recipe tells something different. In this case I have to say more is better. and it's even better if you have harvested or grown more herbs than you need. The sweetest way to process them.  Classics ratio 1/4 of the amount of sugar. So,  if you are using 1 cup of sugar (and 1 cup of water) for syrup, use 1/4 of a cup of chopped herbs. You will have to pour the syrup over your herbs and let them steep in the syrup for a while, so it's better if they  syrup covers all your herbs. To prepare your herbs for making syrup clean and finely chop the herb material. 

The other disputable question is for how long your herbs should sit in the syrup before straining it. Some recipes say 2 hours, other recipes advice to leave the herbs in the syrup for 24 hours. I say, depending on how much time you have and how strong you want your syrup. I don't mind my herbs sitting in the syrup overnight. Just rise the lid of the pot with mixture and check how it smells and tastes. (Rise the lid of peppermint syrup and your eyes will widely open from the freshness!) 

Preparation

Step 1: combine water and sugar in a bowl, heat it up to dissolve the sugar. Stir occasionally until the syrup is ready and gives you the first few bubbles. 

Step 2: when the syrup is ready pour the hot syrup over the chopped herbs. Add in chopped lemon, or lemon juice.

Step 3: put the lid on and leave your herbs to steep for 2 - 24 hours (you choose what works for you and brings the results you are satisfied with). 

Note: ants love syrups. Take a special care covering your syrup if you have issues with ants entering your kitchen in mysterious ways trying to steel your sweets. 

Step 4 has two options: 

1) Strain the liquid, discard the herbs and bring the liquid to boil.

2) Put the pot with herbs and syrup back on fire, bring it to boil and then strain the liquid discarding the herbs. 

I put on fire my syrup together with herbs and pour the liquid into bottles through metal strainer placed over funnel with wide upper part. It's kinda messy, but works for me. 

Step 5: 

(You can leave it out if you are planning to store your syrup in the fridge)

Pasteurize your bottles for about 15 min in the oven or placing your bottles or jars in a large pot half-filled with hot, but not boiling water (around 80°C) for 15 min. (I have an old oven that is heated by firewood. So, without an option of getting exact temperature. Works well.) 

Step 6:

After your syrup bottles are pasteurized, close the lids well, let the bottles cool in the room temperature and then bring them to the storage. 

That's it. You have prepared your own syrup. Congratulations! It really isn't hard. :) 

I hope you found my method and comments useful! Let me know if you have tried making your own syrup following my method!