Herbal Drinks

Oxymels, Shrubs, Tonics, and Switchels

Author

Pete Kooshian
November 04, 2024

Raw fermented apple cider

Sickness season is slowly closing in! That means it’s time to prep your immune system and make your own medicine.

There are hundreds if not thousands upon thousands of types of medicinal remedies that people have been making all throughout history, but today I’d like to go over a few related medicinal drinks.

These drinks might all have similarities and variations across regions and cultures but hopefully I can shed some light on what they are and how to make them.

As a heads-up this one won’t have a ton of pictures!

Oxymels

Oxymels (pronounced “ox-i-mel”) are a vinegar-honey drink infused with herbs or fruit.

The idea is that the vinegar extracts the medicinal compounds from the herbs or fruit, and the honey sweetens out the vinegar part as well as provides some medicinal benefit.

There are tons of recipes and combinations out there, but here’s my preferred recipe:

Recipe:

  • 2 cups Apple Cider Vinegar

  • ¼ cup of raw honey

  • ½ to 1 cup of herbs (fresh or dried)

  1. Combine ACV, honey and herbs in a jar

  2. Stir or shake with a lid on to mix

  3. Leave the jar in a cool dark place for 2 weeks to extract, stirring or shaking twice a week

  4. Strain herbs out and enjoy in a glass or save in the fridge!

Recommended Flavor Combinations:

Shrubs

Shrubs are a historic infused vinegar (usually a combination of fruit, vinegar, and sugar) and are often drank as a cocktail mixer or on their own.

These drinks are more sweet-sour and depending on how they’re made might be more for enjoyment than medicinal purposes (although it can still have benefits).

This is the most common recipe I’ve seen around, but obviously feel free to swap the sugar out, lower the amount, or use a healthier alternative (like coconut sugar):

Recipe:

  • 2 cups of fruit

  • 1 cup of apple cider vinegar

  • ½ cup of sugar

  1. Muddle all of the ingredients together in a large bowl

  2. Cover and let sit for around 24 hours

  3. Strain the mixture into a jar or bottle

  4. Enjoy cold over ice or in cocktails etc.

Recommended Flavor Combinations:

This is a great option for mocktails and a good way to take advantage of in-season fruit and herbs. If sugar is a huge concern for you, I’d replace it with raw honey (in which case it would be very similar to an oxymel).

You can see what I mean with how similar a lot of these traditional drinks are!

Tonics

“Tonic” tends to be used in a pretty broad way these days, but typically means “a health and wellness beverage” (I know, not that helpful, is it?)

You might think “This sounds like a gin and tonic!” and you’d be right! As with a lot of modern foods and drinks, it has origins in herbal remedies!

The original “tonic water” was made with quinine to prevent British soldiers from getting malaria. They would mask the flavor with a bit of sugar and soda water which created tonic water. That type of tonic water was inspired by “tonic herbs” (which is a different subject) and eventually became what we know of as modern soft drinks.

The recipes varied a LOT but there were a few common ingredients: herbs, spices, and or fruit (traditionally citrus) infused in sparkling water.

Recipe:

  • 1 cup of sparkling water

  • 1 cup of fresh fruit juice

  • 1 tsp of spices (optional)

  1. Combine ingredients in a bottle or jar and let steep for up to two weeks

  2. Stir once or twice per week

  3. Add to cocktails, mocktails, or enjoy straight!

Recommended Flavor Combinations:

Switchels

Switchels are a natural energy drink made from vinegar, molasses (or honey), ginger, and water.

This drink was often known as “Haymaker’s Punch” because it was given to field workers to rehydrate and energize them before getting back to work, but today on the internet you can find it referred to as “nature’s gatorade”.

This is probably one of the better drinks on this list as far as medicinal benefits go.

Here’s the best recipe I could find but feel free to play around with it:

Recipe:

  • 3tbsp of minced/grated ginger

  • ¼ cup of Molasses

  • ¼ cup of Apple Cider Vinegar

  • 4 cups of water

  • ¼ cup of maple syrup or honey

  • 1 cup of fruit (optional)

  • ¼ cup of herbs (optional)

  1. Combine all ingredients in a jar or pitcher

  2. Let steep overnight in the fridge

  3. Drink and enjoy!

Recommended Flavor Combinations:

BONUS:

Fire Ciders

Fire ciders are very interesting medicinal drinks because it’s hard to pinpoint one specific place or time as their origin. Generally speaking the main function of a fire cider is not to taste good (most of the time they don’t) but to boost your immune system and kick cold/flu-like symptoms as you go into the winter season!

Fire ciders are really just a type of oxymel or an herbal tonic which is why I’m considering this a bonus, but they’re notable all the same!

My favorite thing about fire ciders is the sheer versatility and medicinal effects you can get out of them.

I’m sure many people have very strong feelings about what should be considered fire cider, but I’ll give a broad recipe for you and you can feel free to mess around with it. Generally speaking, fire ciders have the following: Apple cider vinegar, something spicy (peppers, horseradish, nasturtium), alliums (garlic, onions), ginger, spices, and honey.

Nothing says you have to stick to that specific recipe, but it should probably at least contain most of those ingredients and immune-boosting herbs.

Recipe:

  • 1 onion (chopped)

  • 1 cup of ginger root (chopped)

  • 1 cup of spicy thing (horseradish, peppers, wasabi etc)

  • 6 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped

  • ½ cup of medicinal herbs (rosemary, sage, and marigold are popular choices)

  • 1 Citrus (lemon, orange, grapefruit, OR replace with 1 cup of seaberry)

  • 1 tsp of black peppercorn (whole)

  • 3 cinnamon sticks

  • 5 cups of raw ACV

  • ¼ cup of raw honey

  1. Layer all ingredients (except liquid) in a glass jar

  2. Pour ACV over the contents

  3. Weigh down the contents with a fermentation weight or bag filled with water (to prevent mold growth) alternatively stir the mixture twice per day.

  4. Store for 3-4 weeks in a cool dark place

  5. Strain liquid into a new jar

  6. Stir in honey to taste'

Recommended Flavor Combinations:

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