Horehound Cough Syrup and Candy
Answered by: Susan Eagles
Question from: [No Name Given]
Posted on: May 28, 1998

Recently my husband and I bought some horehound. We know that years ago it was used for cough syrup and for candy. Do you know where we can find out other uses for this herb and maybe some old recipes for the cough syrup and candy?

Traditionally a brew of White Horehound (Marrubium vulgaris) and honey, or Horehound, Hyssop (Hyssopus officinalis) and honey was used for coughs, colds and other chest conditions. Horehound is also used in fevers and for liver and gall bladder disease. To make horehound tea, a teaspoon of the dried herb can be infused in a cup of boiling water for 15 minutes and taken 3 times a day.

I found some horehound recipes in the Reader’s Digest book "North American Folk Healing: An A-to-Z Guide to Traditional Remedies", (Reader’s Digest phone 1-800-465-0780). The book states that an infusion is "made by steeping 3 tablespoons of leaves in a half litre of hot water, then straining. To make a cough syrup, twice as much honey as liquid was added. This goo was then bottled and stored. Lozenges were made by adding sugar to the infusion and boiling the mixture until it was thickened. It was then poured into a shallow pan. When the mixture was cool, it was cut into squares to form lozenges, which were taken at the first tickle of the throat."



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