Remedial Remedies: Make This Night Nurse Tea
We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.
Stock up on everything you'll need to make it through the winter with Tonic, a new book of recipes from wellness expert Tanita de Rujit. Whatever ails you, there's a natural cure right around the corner. You'll make it through the night with this night nurse tea.
This herbal tea remedy combines comforting, sleep-inducing spices with a homemade cough syrup, to relieve tickly coughs and sore throats.
The medicinal pantry is full of sleep aids. Combining spices such as cinnamon and nutmeg creates a synergistic sedative effect on the body, that helps to restore calm. Honey also facilitates a good night's sleep, by stabilizing blood sugar levels and contributing to the release of melatonin in the brain, a hormone responsible for inducing sleep. Sleep like a baby.
- 3 cinnamon sticks
- 1 tablespoon cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
- 15 bay leaves
- 1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
- 2-inch piece fresh ginger root
- 2 liters filtered water
- 1 tablespoon DIY Cough Syrup (link above) or honey
- Milk of your choice (optional)
- Combine all the ingredients together (except for the cough syrup and honey) in a large saucepan.
- Bring to the boil, then reduce to a very low heat, and allow the ingredients to steep for 2–3 hours.
- Strain, and serve with a tablespoon of DIY cough syrup or honey stirred into your mug. Feel free to add a dash of your milk of choice too, if you wish.