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Honeysuckle glycerite is a wonderfully easy herbal remedy to make in the early summer with benefits that will serve you well for the entire year.
That honeysuckle flower many of us picked and pulled apart to drink the droplet of sweet nectar from is full of edible and medicinal uses. So while out hiking and snacking on those sweet, beautiful blossoms bring some back for medicine making for this super easy method.
What is a Glycerite?
Essentially, a glycerite is a tincture made with glycerin instead of the traditional alcohol.
There are many reasons for skipping alcohol tinctures – giving them to children or adults who avoid alcohol for a variety of reasons being the two most popular.
In this particular case, it’s more soothing to the throat which is one of the main reasons to ingest honeysuckle.
Making a glycerite is an easy process, there is time involved but it’s not hands on time. It’s just letting the herbs infuse in the glycerin.
It truly is that simple and yet almost magical.
How to Use Honeysuckle Glycerite
My favorite use for this glycerite is as a soothing and healing treatment for sore throats. It has become my go-to the instant my throat gets that inflamed, sore tingle. To use it for sore throats, take 1 teaspoon up to 3 times a day.
It is also said that honeysuckle can help cool hot flashes and ease respiratory infections. While those are indeed traditional uses, I’ll be honest in that I prefer other treatments to honeysuckle for these conditions. In my experience, honeysuckle glycerite works best for sore throat relief.
Honeysuckle Glycerite
Honeysuckle glycerite is a simple and sweet way to soothe sore throats and more.
Ingredients
- 1 Cup Fresh Honeysuckle Blossoms
- 1 Cup Edible, Vegetable Glycerin
Instructions
- Put the honeysuckle blossoms in a half pint jar and pack them in so that there is about 1/2" of headspace at the top.
- Pour the glycerin over the honeysuckle, making sure to submerge the blossoms and remove any air bubbles. Again, leave 1/2" headspace at the top of the jar.
- Put a lid on the jar.
- Set the jar in a sunny window and let it infuse for one month. Shake the jar every once in a while to keep the leaves from floating above the glycerin.
- At the end of the month strain the flowers from the glycerin. Bottle and label the honeysuckle glycerite for storage.
Notes
Scale the recipe up or down by simply packing any size jar with honeysuckle blossoms and covering them completely with the vegetable glycerin.
Take 1 teaspoon up to 3 times a day for sore throats.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
16 TablespoonsServing Size:
1 TablespoonAmount Per Serving: Calories: 3Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 3mgCarbohydrates: 1gFiber: 0gSugar: 0gProtein: 0g
We try our best but cannot guarantee that nutrition information is 100% accurate.
Hi, I noticed that in the photos, it seems to be honeysuckle vine, is the bush similar medicinally?
My understanding is that is similar medicinally. In fact, if it’s the asian / japanese honeysuckle bush, it may have additional medicinal properties for fighting colds and more. It’s not used as much by western herbalists but was a traditional herb according to a bunch of reading I’ve done.
Now I wish I hadn’t ripped out the honeysuckle vine that was taking over my porch when we bought this property.
Honeysuckle can be more than a tad invasive, ha. It grows wild here, so I just harvest it from the woods near home. I’m not sure I’d want it growing and taking over on our property either ;)
I had no idea honeysuckle was medicinal! I guess anything that smells that good has got to be good for you!
In all the reading I did, it seems honeysuckle has fallen out of use by many western herbalists, it wasn’t something I was aware of either until very recently and it’s not covered in many of my favorite herbal books.
Have you actually tried this glycerite? I bet it is delicious but curious about its effectiveness.
I did find it to be effective. I talked a little about it in this post. I fully plan to keep it in my herbal medicine cabinet from now and will make more this year.
@tessa, same here, didn’t know it was medicinal. I’ll do more research on it.
I poultice of the leaves is wonderful for healing poison ivy too!
How long does a batch keep and should it be refrigerated? Also what are the dosages?
It does not need to be refrigerated. Use it up within a year. For adults, I take 1 teaspoon three times a day during sore throat.
We grew up with a bush that was maintained by my dad for 18 years when we lived in a house in Queens New York….. what a joy to go outside and get a drop of honey suckle when we were kids
I will now create the recipe you mentioned above for my family.
Oh what a great memory, thank you for sharing. Enjoy!
I noticed the picture shows orange honeysuckle. I have white honeysuckle which also gives off a perfume. would this works as well?
Sounds like you might have Japanese Honeysuckle and that is indeed quite medicinal. Try identifying positively before using. Orange honeysuckle just happens to grow wild around me.
Does the glycerin provide an added benefit as opposed to using olive oil or alcohol to soak the flowers in?
Glycerin is often used instead of alcohol to make tinctures alcohol free – you could use alcohol to use this as a tincture. I use this mainly as a sore throat remedy and the glycerin is easier on that than alcohol would be.
I don’t think fresh flowers should ever be infused in oil for ingestion – the chances of botulism in that instance are extremely high and I don’t suggest it.
Where do you find glycerin?
My local health food store carries it but it can be pricey and in small amounts there. Amazon or Azure Standard often carries it at a better, more cost effective deal.
I made something similar to this.
I fermented the flowers in honey for 6 weeks then strained.
Bring on the cold season!
So glad to get this info before poisoning my vine. Will make it and give as gifts. My grandmother had a vine in her front yard in the days before power mowers. Now, I understand why it’s no longer there. I’ll try moving mine to a place where I can mow all around it to keep it from spreading.
I know it can really be invasive in some areas. Here in Montana, the orange is a native type.
I was told that glycerites needed the glycerine to be mixed with water at about a 4:1 ratio of glycerine to water. Was there a reason you don’t add the water to yours?
Water is typically added to glycerites made with dried herbs but never with fresh herbs.
Hi I truly love all your articles and this recipe sounds wonderful and I can’t wait to try it, I do have one question, do you dry the blossom first ?
In the picture it seems to be fresh but in your comment it says to not use fresh bc of botulism ?
I do it fresh in glycerin – the botulism comment was about infusing in oil.
Does it make any difference if you use first blooms or any other time of blooming season? I’ve noticed that the wild honeysuckle that blooms here in TN smells heavenly the first round of blooms. After that the scent is much less pronounced. Just wondered if it would have any bearing on the medicinal properties……now to hunt down some blooms!! Also, about how many cups of blossoms would you say you use in the jar?
I’m not sure it would matter 100%, here in northwest Montana we only get blooms once so color me jealous of your multiple blooms.
Hi, I was wondering what the shelf life is? Thank you!
I would use it up within a year.
Thanks for this information – I do have one question – In making glycerites, I’ve heard that since all plant parts might not be glycerine soluble, one should add a certain percentage of water to the glycerine – up to 40% water, 60% glycerine. Any thoughts on this? Thanks again –
I think that’s definitely true for using dried herbs but not for fresh.
Ah – thanks for that info – makes sense. BTW, I am doing a book on Louisiana medicinal plants (Louisiana Herb Journal, to be published by LSU Press) and would love to include this recipe, with your permission. Can you let me know if that’s possible? And if so, what credits you would like me to use for you? Thanks, and grateful for your good work. C
I have it growing in my front yard here in the Puget Sound region of WA state. Quick question, the humming birds have been enjoying the flowers as well. Because of that how do you best recommend that they are clean? Can I wash them gently?
I definitely clean any foraged herbs. https://homespunseasonalliving.com/clean-foraged-plants/
Hello! Just came across this article. Do you think the benefits of this Honeysuckle glycerite would be the same if doing a sealed simmer glycerite? There are just some times when ya need things fast! :)
Maybe – I haven’t tried but I would give it a try and see…