Fire Cider

When we were young, my sisters and I had a fascination with herbs and teas and homeopathy of various kinds. We were never truly scientific in our experiments, but we fancied ourselves genuine healers, mixing handfuls of herbs and raw spices with hot water to make pastes and teas to our hearts content. Rarely did our remedies do any good. And  there was that one time we inadvertently drank a whole pot of caterpillar tea. A true diet of worms.

Now, a little older and wiser, I still enjoy experimenting in various herbal remedies. When one of my favorite blogs posted a recipe for fire cider, I decided to give this natural cold remedy a try.

Fire Cider should taste hot, spicy and sweet. It can be taken by the spoonful to clear out a head cold, or even consumed via little shot glasses as a tonic.

But be warned. Creating this little winter tonic packs enough punch to clear your sinuses. Husband (apparently) has much better control over his tear glands, for while he was able to stay dry-eyed, the combination of grated horseradish, chopped onion, ginger and garlic made me solidly weep for the entire preparation of this remedy. Of course, Husband found this extremely entertaining.

Recipe and Directions found here.

1 part chopped onion

1 part grated horseradish root (fresh is best)

1 part peeled and diced ginger

1 part garlic

2 cayenne peppers

Enough apple cider vinegar to cover the herbs

Let sit two to three weeks. Strain and discard spent herbs. Add honey to taste. Enjoy.