Recipe: Healing Violet Syrup for Cough & Sore Throat

Violets are one of my favorite spring flowers! They are so bright and beautiful in the bright green spring grass, and I love picking them to add some color to our spring salads. We happen to have many of them growing on our property, so it's easy to collect a handful or two in just a few minutes.

While I've enjoyed eating violets my whole life, I didn't know until recently that they actually have some interesting healing properties.

For example, both their leaves and flowers have mucilaginous properties, helping to moisten and soothe inflamed and irritated tissues. This makes violets a great natural remedy for illnesses that involve cough or sore throat.

In fact, as Rosalee de la Forêt at LearningHerbs.com explains, violets have actually been used to soothe coughs throughout history in Native American, European, and Chinese medicine. One double-blind randomized clinical study of children with intermittent asthma found that violet syrup helped ease and significantly shorten the duration of coughs.

Violet-infused tea, syrup, or honey is also great for soothing dry and irritated sore throats, and may also help to move congestion and stagnant lymph related to upper respiratory infections.

Since it's violet season, I thought I would share this awesome recipe for quick and easy violet syrup. It may be a good remedy to have on hand right now - and you can also freeze it for later use during cold and flu season.

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This delicious and beautiful syrup can be added to beverages such as teas or cocktails, drizzled on desserts, or enjoyed by the spoonful as a natural remedy for coughs and sore throats (keep in mind that eating large amounts of violets may cause digestive issues in some people, so please consume in moderation).

Violet Syrup Recipe

Time: Approx. 1 hour (including steeping)
Yield: Approx. 2 cups

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups fresh purple violet flowers
• 2 cups just-boiled water
• 1/4 cup honey (or sweetener of choice)
• Lemon juice (small amounts, optional)

Instructions:

1. Place the violet flowers in a pint-sized glass jar.
2. Fill the jar with just-boiled water. Stir well. Cover.
3. Let sit for 30 minutes (or until the color has drained from the flowers; longer is fine).
4. Strain off the flowers.
5. At this stage you can choose to add lemon juice. Without lemon juice, depending on the color of your violets, your infusion may be more blue than purple. You may wish to add a few drops of lemon juice to turn it purple. Keep in mind that the more you add, the more the color will change, so go slowly to get the color you want.
6. Add honey (or sweetener of choice). Stir well.
7. Store in the fridge and use within a few days. For a longer shelf life, measure the liquid, add an equal volume of honey or sugar, and use within a month. Discard if it develops mold. You can also choose to freeze your syrup for future use. Freeze in ice cube trays, then pop out and freeze in an air-tight container until needed. Allow to thaw at room temperature or in the refrigerator, drop frozen cubes into hot tea, or simply suck on a cube like a little popsicle to alleviate symptoms.
   

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Recipe from https://learningherbs.com/remedies-recipes/violet-syrup/
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