Tea

Throat Coat Tea

November 30, 2016
4
3 Ratings
Photo by James Ransom
  • Makes 6 cups
Author Notes

The tea that I spent too much money on every flu season at college is really just a bunch of bark and roots and peels. Buy the elements in bulk—smile gleefully at their names—then mix them together. But at this point, do not smell. It will not smell good, or reminiscent of the sweet, velvetty syrup you got in those pre-made tea bags. Steep or simmer—20 minutes or 15 minutes, respectively, and your Throat Coat will be ready to be worn.

If your scale has trouble reading single grams, don't worry; we're not baking here. Or if you're worried, double the recipe. This stuff doesn't go bad. —Ali Slagle

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Throat Coat Tea
Ingredients
  • 8 grams licorice root (broken up into 2-centimeter pieces)
  • 1 gram slippery elm bark
  • 1 gram marshmallow root
  • 2 grams wild cherry bark
  • 2 grams fennel seeds (or bitter fennel fruit)
  • 2 grams cinnamon bark (broken up into 2-centimeter pieces)
  • 2 grams bitter orange peel (or sweet orange peel)
Directions
  1. Combine all the ingredients. When you're ready to make tea, you have a two options: Bring a cup of water to a boil, add a tablespoon of tea, then simmer gently for 15 minutes. Strain, pour into a cup, sip. Or, put a tablespoon of tea in a tea pot or mug—or in a tea bag and then in a tea pot or mug—and add a cup of water. Let steep for 30 minutes before drinking. I've found that the former method is better at activating the slippery elm, which gives the tea the soothing, "slippery" feeling.

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3 Reviews

Lindsey K. November 19, 2018
hello! i was wondering if you would recommend the powdered form of slippery elm or the regular. thanks!
Fredrik B. February 1, 2017
Could I use this as a tea blend by mixing it into plain ceylon, or should this be more of an infusion?
Ali S. February 1, 2017
I worry the ceylon will go bitter by the time the Throat Coat will be fully steeped. Maybe prepare both separately and then mix?