As a holiday gift last year, I received a super sweet gift from an herbalist friend of mine: pine needle syrup. It was such a special, unique, usable and delicious gift that I had to share the idea with you.
Now, the fresh, sweet form of pine needles are seasonal and a little tricky to explain here, but herbal syrups can be made from many different herbs. Ashwaganda, valerian, skullcap, hawthorne, motherwort, yarrow, damiana and chamomile are just a few good options that come to mind. I used hops flowers for my herbal syrup this time around.
How to use herbal syrups? These herbal syrups are tasty anywhere one might use sugar, such as in coffee, on yogurt, on waffles, etc. They make a very exotic, yet usable gift. They also make great batch gifts; you can take care of all your holiday gifts at once! And packaging your syrups in charming French square bottles and personalized labels from evermine adds a very special touch.
- 1 part dried herb, in ounces by weight
- 16 parts water, in fluid ounces
- 8 parts mild-flavored honey, in fluid ounces
- Combine the dried herb and water in a pot and simmer over low heat, reducing the liquid, ultimately to half it’s original volume. Strain the liquid and add the honey and stir over very low heat, never exceeding 110 ˚F, until the honey and the strong herbal tea are well-combined.
- Funnel this delicious syrup into sweet bottles and adorn them with personalized labels. These syrups make excellent holiday gifts!
Used In This Project:
- Petal Labels • I chose the “French Market” style in green.
- Tall Labels • I chose the “French Market” style in green.
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Lorraine is a medical student, writer and food lover living in her hometown of Portland, Oregon. Sometimes, Lorraine realizes that, for the most part, her family, friends and adored acquaintances are just a bike ride away. This gives her sense of cozy giddiness! Mostly though, she gets psyched about creating and sharing food, particularly the kind of food that is accidentally healthy and delicious. See more of her work at SweetAllium.
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