How to Make an Oxymel

An oxymel is like a tincture; it's just not made with alcohol. They seek to extract, through maceration, every part of the plant material it can and concentrate it so you have to use less than what you would if you were to use the whole herb itself. Alcohol, vinegar, honey, and vegetable glycerin are the most common to use in this way and alcohol extracts the most types of plant compounds. The oxymel is made with a blend of honey and apple cider vinegar. It’s an extremely effective way to ingest the properties of the plant or formula of plants that you choose. They are actually a lot easier than taking a tea for quite a few herbs, you’ll find some are just terrible tasting, and you may find that you enjoy the oxymel if you like the taste of vinegar. Think salad dressings. Oxymels are pretty versatile little concoctions!

Oxymels are easy to make and the process is actually fun to see unfold. Today we are going to make a ginger oxymel. Put a pot about half full of water on the stove to the point just before boiling and while that’s happening gather up your apple cider vinegar, honey and ginger root. Now grab a clean jar with a lid, preferably plastic or lined like a canning jar lid but if you don’t have one use plastic wrap over the opening before you put the lid on, and a glass that will hold at least half of what the jar you have will hold. Any size jar is fine.

Pour your apple cider vinegar into the jar you have set up until it is about half full. Now transfer that to your glass and set it into the pot of near boiling water and let it warm up a little bit. We aren’t heating the vinegar directly on the stove because we don’t want to kill the efficacy of the good stuff you’ll read about in just a minute, and using warm vinegar will help make the maceration process happen that much faster as well as more efficiently. We want everything we can get out of that ginger.

Apple cider vinegar has the ability to fight heartburn and acid reflux. Odd as it sounds for something as acidic as vinegar, it’s definitely effective. It also helps to detox the gut so we don’t feel so heavy in the belly after rushing around for months putting our diets second. That might have something to do with it’s reported benefits in weight loss. And then there’s this really cool stuff called acetic acid in unfiltered apple cider vinegar. It looks like little floaties in the liquid after you shake it but it’s actually happy little good bacteria so don’t strain it out. When we take those little guys into our system it makes it easier for our bodies to absorb minerals, which can be pretty important to women nearing or already at the age where we really need to keep watch on calcium absorption. Raw and unfiltered is best, but if you can’t stand the thought or look of the happy little floaties, that’s ok. Go ahead and grab the filtered stuff for the other health benefits.

Now lets talk about honey for a second. I normally buy local honey because it’s made with the pollen from plants in the area where I live. To help alleviate allergies that’s pretty important. It also helps coat a sore throat and with the anti-bacterial properties in honey it fights what’s making your throat sore that much more. Honey is also shelf stable for years. Keep it out of the direct sun and in a place where you don't have a ton of temperature fluctuations (like over the stove or on top of the fridge) to help keep it golden and flowing. Crystallized honey is still good, it just serves a different purpose when you can no longer pour it. It’s an excellent sweetener for teas and your local beekeeper that sells their product will thank you.

I chose ginger for this particular oxymel because it is wonderful stuff and ties in so well for the things we might use apple cider vinegar and honey for. The anti-bacterial properties help kill off the yuckies making your throat sore, and the anti-inflammatory properties help lessen the discomfort. Ginger has also been reported to aid efforts in weight loss and has a very long history with aiding with stomach issues of all kinds. So now that you have your ginger, slice it up thin and add it to your jar until your jar is at least ¼ of the way full up to ⅓ of the way. Remember to keep it simple, we don’t need exact measurements to glean the full benefits.

Very carefully, take your warmed up apple cider vinegar out of its hot bath and pour it over your sliced ginger. Now fill the jar the rest of the way with honey. Shake it up after you put the lid on and set it somewhere warm, like the top of your refrigerator. It should take a week on up to a month for the vinegar and honey to get all the constituents it can out of the ginger. Shake it up every day and take a look at the slices. You’ll know when it’s ready when the ginger looks like it just doesn’t have anything left to give. It will be pale and a little translucent and floppy looking. Strain the whole lot through a mesh strainer and press the ginger to get out all you can. If you have an herb press that would be awesome, but I just use my tortilla press over a glass bowl. You don’t have to throw the ginger out if you don’t want to, it will still have flavor. Give it a nibble and see. It’s actually pretty tasty with the addition of the vinegar and honey.

Store your oxymel in the same jar you made it in if you like. I do. Then label it. You definitely want to know what you’re grabbing once you get a bunch of these hanging around. Your label will be most beneficial if it includes:

1. What it is. An Oxymel.
2. The herbs used to make it.
3. The date that you strained it.

An oxymel will keep from nine months up to a year, if you even have it that long. Store it in the refrigerator to get the longest shelf life, but a cool dark place is also fine.

If you’re taking this for the medicinal benefits take one or two tablespoons up to three times a day. You can also dilute it in water or use it in a medicinal tea. Think hot sage tea with this oxymel, for the sore throat!