Tonic Cordials

 cordial adjective

cor·​dial | \ ˈkȯr-jəl  \

1a: showing or marked by warm and often hearty friendliness, favor, or approval; politely pleasant and friendly

b: sincerely or deeply felt

2: tending to revive, cheer, or invigorate

3: obsolete - of or relating to the heart : VITAL

cordial noun

1: LIQUEUR

2: a stimulating medicine or drink

Benefits of cordials:

• Pleasant tasting, easily administered medicinal preparation for long term use addressing prevention and chronic health issues.

• Adaptable to many possible body systems and medicinal applications.

• Easy to make and have a long shelf life.

• Try a half ounce daily either straight up or mixed with water.

Ingredients:

• Herbs! Combine herbs as you would for a tea or tincture formula, focusing on tonic herbs that taste reasonably good. (ginger, anise, tulsi, sweet goldenrod, rose, cinnamon, chaste tree, dandelion root, schisandra, cardamom, fennel, hibiscus, eleuthero, sarsaparilla, licorice, etc.)

*  Watch out for combinations including both tannins and pectins, such as hawthorn and cinnamon! They can react to produce sticky goop that makes it difficult to strain the herbs from the liquid.

*  Include catalyst herbs like ginger, prickly ash, or cinnamon, and harmonizer herbs like licorice or sarsaparilla.

• Fruits! Many fruits have particular medicinal qualities, like orange peel, jujube dates, elderberries, rosehips, apricots, cherries, blueberries, blackberries, lycium/goji fruit, longan, hawthorn, etc. They add sweetness and help with the consistency of the cordial.

• Sweeteners! Primarily for palatability and keeping quality. After the tincture part is strained out, add maple syrup, honey or sugar syrup. Maple and honey tend to separate, but lend great flavor. Just shake well before enjoying. Sugar syrup is made by boiling equal parts sugar and water until well dissolved and thickened.           

Procedure:

1. Following the folk method, fill a wide mouth quart jar 2/3 full of herbs and fruits. Fill the jar to the beginning of the shoulder or about 3/4 full with brandy, vodka, rum, whisky or any alcohol you prefer. For a non-alcoholic version use a good quality vinegar.

2. Shake the jar regularly, and then strain the herbs out after 6-8 weeks.

3. Blend this extract with 1/2 to 1 cup of sweetener, to taste.

4. Let it age for at least a month for best flavor.

5. If sediment develops, you can rack it with a siphon tube or carefully pour the clear cordial off of the sediment.

6. Beautiful bottles and labels will make your preparation even more special.

Sample Combinations:

Cardiovascular – hawthorn berries, rosehips, blueberries, lycium/goji berries, cardamom pods/seeds

Digestive – mugwort herb, dandelion root, cinnamon bark, fennel seed, orange peel

Immune – elderberries, rosehips, eleuthero root, licorice root

Respiratory – solomon's seal root, anise seed, fresh or dried apricot, plantain leaf, hyssop herb

Experiment and have FUN!!!!