Annie’s Soothing Herbal Throat Tea

“I don’t feel very much like Pooh today,” said Pooh.

“There there,” said Piglet. “I’ll bring you tea and honey until you do.”
A.a. milne, winnie-the-pooh

Annie’s Soothing Herbal Throat Tea. January 23, 2025.

Sipping a cup of hot herbal tea is a soothing pleasure that needs no words. More so is its enjoyment on an icy winter day as a natural tonic for our chilled bodies. It is amazing the variety of herbs God has provided for us with their unique flavors and medicinal properties that make our food tasty and leave our bodies better for it. Herbs have always held a fascination for me, and it is a joy to continue learning about them as well as grow them. Teas are one of the most common ways of enjoying the taste and experiencing the benefits of herbs and is something my husband and I do daily.

Years ago, for my birthday someone gave me a box of lovely herbal tea that had an unusual combination of flavors, but one both my husband and I both instantly loved. Eventually, I wanted to try making my own version with two of the primary ingredients that tasted so good: peppermint and licorice. These two herbs alone make a nice tea, but the herbalist in me ended up pairing the peppermint and licorice with marshmallow root and mullein to make an herbal throat tea. Most of the herbs used are demulcents which means they are soothing herbs that have silky mucilage which coats the throat and is calming on inflammation. This tea tastes good enough that my husband drinks it every day!

A little about the herbs I used:

Marshmallow root: An ancient and well-respected demulcent as well as an emollient and expectorant. French druggists used to make a confectionary paste with it and sold it to soothe respiratory ailments. Eventually, the marshmallow was born although the modern marshmallow doesn’t use marshmallow root anymore. Marshmallow root has a slightly sweet and woody taste.

Licorice root: A very sweet and earthy tasting herb that many enjoy. It has demulcent and emollient actions like marshmallow and is popular for coughs. As with marshmallow, a pharmacist eventually turned it into a sweet lozenge to make it taste better birthing a new candy with medicinal value as well.

*Licorice tea is generally considered safe, but in large amounts it is linked to high blood pressure and lowered potassium levels.

Mullein: A roadside herb with a wide range of herbal actions such as demulcent, emollient, astringent as well as a slight sedative quality. Mullein plants were formerly used as torches by dipping into grease or other flammable substance. Mild and earthy in taste.

Peppermint: A very popular herb for its bright, minty flavor. Peppermint is not a demulcent, but it’s cooling and calming actions as well as its taste make it an excellent complementary addition to this tea!