How to Make Real Wild Cherry Cough Syrup at Home in Your Kitchen with Wild Cherry Bark

The old herbals extol the virtues of the wild cherry as one of the finest of all cough remedies--with good reason! Nothing works better to put the kibosh on a cough!

But here’s the weird part: The part of the tree that’s used to make cough remedies is not the berries, but the bark—that is, the inner bark.

There are several species of wild cherry; the medicinal kind is Prunus serotina, sometimes called “black cherry.” If you are harvesting the bark yourself, be sure you are familiar with the tree, so you get the right one.

Wild cherry bark can be taken in the form of a tea, for coughs and colds. It is unusual among medicinals made from roots and barks, in that it should never be boiled, but only steeped. In the case of wild cherry bark, boiling destroys the medicinal principals.

Perhaps the main reason that wild cherry bark is usually made into a syrup, rather than storing the bark for use in making a tea, is that the bark loses its potency after a year of storage. When the fresh bark is made into a syrup, however, it will keep almost indefinitely.

HOW TO MAKE WILD CHERRY COUGH SYRUP

• Fill a pint jar with wild cherry bark and add a flavored brandy to cover (Cherry brandy is nice but other flavors are fine.) Let this stand, tightly covered, shaking every now and then, for about a month (one moon cycle), strain, mix with equal parts honey, and bottle.

• You can purchase the bark from herb dealers or at many health food stores, but be sure it’s fresh. Wild cherry bark loses its potency after one year of storage. It should have an almond scent.

• I think it is best to locate a wild cherry tree and harvest the bark in summer. You are after the inner bark, the first layer of bark under the papery outer bark. Try to stick to one smallish area on one side of the tree, so you don’t kill the tree.

• The inner bark will be a pale tan, quickly turning an orangey color with exposure to the air. It should have a pleasant bitterish almond scent.

• Never boil wild cherry bark, as high temperatures destroy the medicinal principles.

• The dose is about 1 teaspoonful for children and 1 tablespoonful for adults.

• Keep this medicine out of the reach of children. In large doses, it dangerously slows the action of the heart and can be fatal. And it’s delicious flavor may be a temptation to children.

Your homemade wild cherry cough syrup will be the finest cough syrup you have ever used. Got an annoying cough at night? If you get up and take a spoonful of this cough syrup, your cough will be gone before you can make it back to bed.

A bottle of homemade wild cherry cough syrup makes an excellent gift. I mean, what the heck, this recipe will make a whole quart of the stuff.

Even if you never make or use any other natural remedy, this product alone will make your reputation as a natural healer.

• How to Make Echinacea Tincture--Growing and Using Purple Coneflower for Medicinal Use
  You can easily make Echinacea tincture at home, using the roots of your own Echinacea plants from your garden and a pint of vodka.

• How to Make Herbal Medicines: Infusions, Decoctions, Tinctures, Syrups, Oils and Salves
  Many of the expensive tinctures and other herbal preparations available from health-food stores and herb dealers can be prepared at home for pennies!

• Top Four Most Useful Herbal Preparations You Can Make at Home
  Make echinacea tincture, mullein oil, black walnut hull tincture, and wild cherry cough syrup at home.

• How to Cure Warts, Moles, and Skin Tags with Castor Oil and Baking Soda
  You can avoid surgery or other medical procedures, and remove moles and skin tags painlessly at home, using castor oil and baking soda.

• Cure Plantar Warts with Oil of Thyme
  Plantar warts can be cured without , laser therapy, cryotherapy (freezing), acid treatments, or surgery, and without wasting time and money on frustrating and discouraging over-the-counter products.

• Dislocated Wrist in Toddlers and Young Children--What To Do
  A child who seems unable to use her hand, but lets it hang limply her side, may have a dislocated wrist. Here’s what to do.

• Cure a Toothache without Dentistry
  If you have a painful toothache because of and infection or impacted wisdom tooth, you can cure the infection with Echinacea.

• Cure Yeast Infections with Yogurt or Probiotics
  Here’s how to cure yeast infections (Candida albicans) naturally.

• Cure Shingles Fast with Echinacea
  Shingles can be cured in 24-48 hours with Purple Coneflower.

• Cure Kidney Stones with Herbs
  Kidney stones may be passed painlessly and/or dissolved without surgery or other conventional medical treatment using inexpensive herbal treatments.

• Cure Pink Eye (Conjunctivitis) Fast with Castor Oil
  Pink eye is easily cured with home treatment. I learned of this cure when I took my oldest daughter to a naturopathic physician for pink eye, and used it to cure a severe case. I have since used it successfully many times.

• Cure Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs) with Echinacea
  Quickly cure UTIs Using Purple Coneflower! I have found that Echinacea tincture (my own homemade version) will cure a UTI in a couple of hours--though later doses are needed to keep it from returning.

• Cure Gout with Natural Remedies and Herbs
  Gout can be cured with natural remedies, diet, and herbs, without conventional medical treatment.

• Natural Home Treatment for Stomach Flu--Vomiting and Diarrhea
  Herbal and Natural Treatments and Home Nursing Care for Diarrhea and Vomiting, Symptoms of Stomach Flu and Food Poisoning

• Cure Ringworm with Easy Home Remedies
  Ringworm is easily cured at home using iodine, black walnut hull tincture (which you can make at home), and other simple products.

• Cure Menstrual Problems--Excessive Menstrual Flow (Menorrhagia) and Bleeding Between Menstrual Perio
  Many menstrual problems are simply an indication of iodine deficiency, possibly along with other micro-nutrient deficiencies, and can be easily cured by adding seaweed to your diet.

• Cure Cold Sores with Herbal and Natural Remedies
  Apple cider vinegar, olive oil, slippery elm, and probiotics are all reliable cures for most cold sores.

• Cure Children's Growing Pains
  Children's growing pains--muscle cramps that usually occur in the feet and legs--are nothing more than magnesium deficiency.

• The Elderberries Will Soon Be Ripe! How to Make Elderberry Juice, Rob, and Syrup for Winter Colds
  In late summer and early fall, there is a bountiful harvest elderberries along the roadsides. The berries not only make delicious jam or wine, but are valuable home medicines as juice, rob, syrup.

• How to Cure Fevers, Plus a List of Danger Signs
  A comprehensive discussion about fevers: Danger signs, and how to cure fevers with herbs and other natural methods.

• How to Cure Ear Infections with Olive Oil, Mullein Flowers, and Brewer's Yeast
  How to cure ear infections--permanently--using herbs and nutrition!

• Cure Children's Bedwetting and Accidents with Herbs
  An herbal cleansing and toning approach to leaky children that focuses on toning the urinary tract and the nerves

• How to Cure Scabies Naturally, without Chemical Pesticides
  Scabies can be cured with Vitamin E oil applications, or with diluted oil of thyme. There's no need to see a doctor or apply chemical pesticides.

• Grow a Beautiful and Practical Garden of Medicinal Herbs
  Passionflower, meadowsweet, rosemary, lemon balm, thyme, Sweet Annie, chamomile, catnip, mint, ecinacea, black-eyed Susans, and Bible leaf make a lovely and useful herb garden.

• Cure Psoriasis with Natural Methods
  Herbs that are reputed to cure psoriasis are slippery elm and American saffron (safflower),

• Rid Your Home of Fleas Naturally
  There is no need to spray your home with toxic pesticides to get rid of fleas--and flies, too. Several essential oils repel and kill fleas and flies, especially when used in household cleaners.

• Cure Impetigo with Home Remedies
  Homes remedies for impetigo include black walnut hull tincture (which you can make at home), colloidal silver, and elecampane root.

• Cure Foot and Leg Cramps
  Foot and leg cramps are almost always caused by magnesium deficiency--or, more accurately, insufficient magnesium intake in relation to calcium intake. The fix is easy! Get more magnesium!

• The Medicine Garden: Best Medicinal Herbs to Grow in the Home Garden
  A selection of medicinal herbs that are both beautiful and useful

• Home Birth--With or Without a Midwife
  Many women have opted for a joyous home birth experience! Planning a home birth carefully is important.

• How to cure bronchitis naturally
  A fast cure for bronchitis: a few drops of the essential oil of sandalwood on a lump of sugar. Real wild-cherry cough syrup and elecampane root tea give this cure a boost.

• Cure Head Lice with Tea Tree Oil
  Cure head lice without putting pesticides on your child's head--and prevent re-infestation--with inexpensive herbal treatments.

• Gathering and Using Elderflowers to Make Lotions for Beautiful Skin and Healing Salves
  Elderflowers blooming in the fields and along the roadsides in June are a beauty--and healing--bonanza!

• Cure Burns with Slippery Elm and Comfrey
  An Easy Home Remedy for Burns, Wounds, and Other Skin Affections

• Make Herbal Teas from Wild Plants of the Fields and Roadsides
  There are many wild plants growing in the fields and along the roadsides that make delicious and healthful herbal teas!

• Growing a Doomstead Garden
  Gardening for self-sufficiency during the zombie apocalypse

• Cure Your Bad Back
  Does your back periodically "go out," leaving you prostrate and with severe back pain for weeks? Chances are, all you need is magnesium!

• Eating the Acorns: How to Make Acorn Bread and Other Acorn Recipes
  Acorns have been used as a staple human food for thousands of years. Today, interest in using this healthful and abundant native wild food has been revived. Try some delicious acorn recipes.

• Gooseberry Jam with Elderflowers
  Elderflowers added to gooseberry jam impart a delicate “muscat” flavor, and give the jam a beautiful “calico” look, that makes these jams excellent for giving as gifts.

• Foraging and Cooking Wild Foods
  Here are a few commonly available wild plants for foraging, along with some simple recipes for making yummy wild food dishes!

Comments

Sharon Vile (author) from Odessa, MO on June 05, 2015:

The alcohol content acts as a preservative in the cough syrup, and I'm not sure about the minimum alcohol content you need to preserve this cough syrup, although the sugar content from the honey also help preserve it. If you used cherry wine, you could ensure that you had enough alcohol in there to preserve it by adding some Everclear, which about the highest proof you can buy. You could also use other methods to ensure that the cough syrup doesn't spoil, such as freezing in small containers, or freezing in an ice-cube tray and storing the cubes in a freezer bag.

Angel on June 05, 2015:

what is the difference between brandy and wine? could I use cherry wine as a substitute for the brandy in the cough syrup?