If you use herbal remedies and natural medicine, then you already know the power of honey. Honey can be used in daily beauty routines, to reduce skin issues, and for many other applications. What you may not know is that you can increase the potency of your honey and the medicinal properties it provides by infusing it with different herbs. Here are the steps to make your own infused honey.
How to Make Herb Infused Honey
Start with pure honey. The key point to remember as a first step to making herb infused honey is to use the right honey. You can’t simply buy the little plastic bear from the store and hope it works.
Most store-bought and commercially processed honey is actually not pure honey but a mixture of sugar and syrups with only a small amount of honey or honey flavors.
There are many ways you can determine if you are buying the right honey, but the most common methods are to look for locally made honey with the honeycomb still in the jar or to look for raw honey that has not been processed.
The raw honey will have a cloudy appearance and be a little denser than your typical processed honey. Either of these options will work for infused honey.
Herbs for Flavored Honey
There are many different herbs that you can use to infuse honey, and each brings a different flavor and medicinal properties. Some examples of herbs that work well in honey are ginger, basil, mint, lavender, sage, and chamomile. Many infused honey recipes make use of these herbs.
You can also combine herbs in your honey. For example, lavender and chamomile work well together and create a mixture that will help relax and calm you.
Heating, Infusing, and Cooling Down Your Herbal Honey
If you’re wondering how to infuse honey, it just takes a few easy steps. First things first, grab your honey and the herbs.
We’re about to heat things up, but there’s no need to reach for your saucepan.
No actual stove heat is required for this herbal infusion. In fact, if you heat the honey and herbs, you could end up breaking down the honey or herbs, greatly reducing their medicinal value for your needs.
Instead, grab a mason jar and the herbs.
You will only need to place the herbs in the jar, pour the honey over the herbs, and place the herbs in a window that gets direct sunlight for the vast majority of the day. The natural heat from the sun will heat the honey without damaging it, creating delicious flavored honey.
If you want, you can bruise the herbs slightly to release their potency into the honey. The herbal honey mixture should be turned at least once per day to get an even amount of sun on the entire mason jar.
Storage, Filtering, and Bottling the Flavored Honey
You will need to allow the herbs to infuse into the honey for at least one week. If the herbs swell over the honey, add more honey and increase the time by an additional week.
Test the herbal infusion by tasting the mixture. If you can’t taste the herbs in the honey, add an additional week to the curing time.
Keep tasting the mixture each week until you get the desired flavor. Once done, strain the mixture to remove the herbs and place the honey into a marked mason jar.
You can store the honey in your kitchen and use the herbal infusion in teas, directly, or in foods.
Takeaway
These are the three basic steps to making your own herbal infused honey for pain or medicinal remedies. You can make this honey as needed or in larger batches. Remember to store the honey in a dry cool place to keep the potency.