Sweet Honey Swirling…

The last few weeks have had me brewing up lovely spicy herbal chai, or root brews in my little crockpot, and staying warm with hot beverages and soups. It’s been cold in the desert…

I’ve also been working closely with a private mentorship student this fall- exploring medicine making techniques, flower essences, wildcrafting and botany. This past week we discussed the making of medicinal honey.

Medicinal honeys are a sweet way to get your herbal medicines into your day- though not appropriate for everyone in large doses, raw honey has its own slew of health benefits.
I often add powdered herbs to honey to make a jam or spread of sorts – (or to make a face mask-yummy beauty treatments!) and SWIRLED into tea or warm water.
I also add fresh or dried herbs to honey to infuse for several weeks until all the goodness of the herb has been soaked up by the honey. These can be strained or left as is.

Now I’ve made a lot of medicinal herb infused honey over the years- but a friend and former student recently posted a picture of something I’d never even dreamed of…and I took her lead and swirled up some Vanilla Bean Honey. Thanks Herb Mother Latisha for the indulgent inspiration!

Then- following the inspiration- my student and I swirled together chai spices into honey.

And I’m sure you can imagine the delight of swirling beautiful sweet spicy honey into your tea or coffee.

Seriously, vanilla bean honey in a creamy coffee….or a hefty spoonful of chai honey dalloped into some smokey lapsang or oolong tea is making my week much sweeter.

Here’s the how to:
Vanilla Bean Powder (Mountain Rose Herbs sells by the ounce)
Raw Honey

Fill a half pint or pint jar half full with honey. Then add a few tablespoons of vanilla bean powder. Stir well, add more honey and stir again.

Chai Spice Honey
Mix the following herbs (powdered or whole)
2 tbsp ginger root
2 tbsp cinnamon
1 tbsp cardamom seed
1/2 tbsp black pepper
4 cloves or a pinch of powder
pinch of fresh ground nutmeg

Add spices to 1 pint of raw honey. Stir well to mix. Let infuse for a few days or weeks (if you can wait), or swirl into your tea as is. (I powdered my herbs and swirl the herbs and honey in all together)
Other decadent honey infusion ideas….
Raw Cacao Powder in honey
Fresh lemon slices with fresh ginger root
Powdered Green or Black Tea- swirl into hot water for instant tea!

Fresh turmeric roots sliced into honey- swirl into milk or chai!

Powdered hawthorn, elderberry, or rosehips (or all three!)

Fir needles, fresh or dried and powdered (in your clean coffee grinder!)

Dried flower medley- calendula petals, rose petals, lavender flowers, jasmine flowers