Herbal Electuaries

An electuary is simply powdered herb stirred into honey until it holds together. You can take it like a little soft candy and I like to wrap them up in paper so they last longer and keep from sticking together. The honey preserves the herb, and makes a bitter or astringent plant a little more pleasant to take. For most of recorded pharmacy this was simply how you got a remedy into a child, or into an adult that needed a little coaxing to take their daily dose.

Electuaries are amazing for the nervous system, and are the perfect vessel to deliver soothing herbs partially becuase it’s a sweet pleasant experience. All the lovely pleasure areas of the brain are primed with a sweet honey delivery system and it’s a great way to get medicine into kids.

You can make an electuary with any herb really but it works best with herbs that can be powdered easily. You have to really think about the dose here and make the of size your individual “lozenges” of electuary to match an appropriate single dose amount. This is of most importance with anything that has a strong effect or a root where a lot of medicinal constituents would be concentrated. I need you – my dear herbalist to think now about if you ate a full tablespoon of your chosen powdered herb. Would that be an appropriate dose? The good news is you can easily either make smaller lozenges or cut in another herb with less dramatic effects.

My Favorite Combo

My favorite herbs to use for this can be used on the more liberal end

Rose is known for being soft, ornamental, a little sentimental but she’s not to be messed with. As a thorn bearing plant she is excellent for holding boundaries while still glowing and showing your own beauty. It is an astringent. It tones and draws together tissue that has gone lax or weepy, and it has a long-documented affinity for the heart, both the organ and the emotional heart. For someone who is frayed, tearful, and maybe needing to hold more boundaries rose is a good friend to bring in. The flavor is also just the most beautiful and delicate note we can bring in from the medicinal apothecary.

Tulsi, holy basil is aromatic and faintly pungent, and she’s an adaptogen and nervine, and it lifts the mood gently and just kinda cuts the edge of things. I love to put it alongside rose and in a vessel of honey for one of the most beautiful nourishing preparations we can make.

The Recipe

You want your herbs powdered as finely as possible. If you’re grinding from whole dried rose petals and tulsi leaf, run them through a clean coffee grinder (or use one just for herbs) and then sift out the coarse bits (anything gritty will be unpleasant in the finished electuary.)

• 3 tablespoons powdered dried rose petals
• 2 tablespoons powdered dried tulsi
• Raw honey, roughly 1/4-1/2 a cup – enough to bring it to a thick paste

Combine the powders in a bowl. Add honey a little at a time, stirring, until you have a paste with the consistency of thick cookie dough. It should hold its shape on a spoon, not pour. You’ll use less honey than you think; let it sit a few minutes between additions, because the powder keeps drinking it up.

Dose and keeping

I like to dollop them out onto a tray of wax paper then cut into squares and roll them up like little candies. You can also just store the whole mixture in a jar for up to 6 months as long as you used dried herbs.

This depends the herb but usually a teaspoon or so taken straight off the spoon or one of the”candies”. You can also mix it into tea making a sort of instant sweetened herbal tea.

Because there is no added water and the honey content is high, a dried-herb electuary will keep for several months in a cool cupboard. Use a clean dry spoon every time. The thing that would eventually spoil it is moisture, so if you ever see it bubbling or notice a sour or alcoholic smell go ahead and give that baby back to the compost.

Reminder – No honey for babes

Honey is not recommended for a child under one year old, in an electuary or anywhere else, because of the risk of infant botulism.