How to make cherry syrup

This syrup is a good way to treat coughs especially when added with other herbs specific to the ailment at the time e.g. Echinacea to boost immunity, Elderflowers to break a fever or Thyme to kill a virus in it’s tracks.

You will need:
Some cherries (washed and without stalks)
Sugar
Water
A saucepan
Empty bottles
A funnel
A jam strainer or muslin cloth

I used a recipe off my friend Karen at Sensory Solutions who uses Mrs.Grieves age old trick of a pound of sugar to a pint of water. The more water you use the more syrup you make but ideally you’d have at least a pound of cherries to your pint of water as well.

1. Wash your cherries in a collander.
Cherry Syrup
2. Put your sugar in the water with the cherries and bring to the boil.
3. Keep it moving until the sugar has dissolved.
4. You may wish to start squishing the cherries against the side at this point.
5. Leave until the water has gone dark red/black or boil down to the amount you wish
6. Strain into a jug and allow to cool, composting the left over cherry skin and stone. Once cool transfer to bottles. I recommend you use glass bottles or plastic ones which haven’t been used before. I tried reusing a bottle which had had thyme and liquorice syrup in and it contaminated the entire thing (not necessarily a bad thing though!).
Cherry Syrup