Annie’s Soothing Herbal Throat Tea
“I don’t feel very much like Pooh today,” said Pooh.
A.a. milne, winnie-the-pooh
“There there,” said Piglet. “I’ll bring you tea and honey until you do.”
Annie’s Soothing Herbal Throat Tea. January 23, 2025.
Sipping a cup of hot herbal tea is a soothing pleasure that needs no words. Even 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 and grow them. Teas are one of the most common ways to enjoy the taste and experience the benefits of herbs, and they are 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 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 with silky mucilage that coats the throat and calms 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 confectionery 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, and astringent, as well as a slight sedative quality. Mullein plants were formerly used as torches by dipping them into grease or other flammable substances. Mild and earthy in taste.
Peppermint: A very popular herb for its bright, minty flavor. Peppermint is not a demulcent, but its cooling and calming actions, as well as its taste, make it an excellent complementary addition to this tea!
Annie’s Soothing Herbal Throat Tea
Annie’s Soothing Herbal Throat Tea
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup Dried peppermint leaves
- 1/4 cup Dried mullein leaves
- 1/4 cup Dried marshmallow root
- 1/4 cup Dried licorice root
Instructions
- Combine herbs in the desired storage container.
- Brew as you would for tea, using 1 tsp. per 8 oz of hot water.
- *The addition of mullein and marshmallow does tamp down the yummy licorice/peppermint component a bit, so I usually use 2 tsps. of tea per 8 oz. water for a stronger licorice/peppermint flavor.
Notes
- This recipe can be doubled, tripled, etc.
- This tea can be made with just the licorice and peppermint for the good flavor. I added the extra herbs for their demulcent actions to enhance the tea’s efficacy.
Have a beautiful day!
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