"Garlic and vinegar have been prized for thousands of years for their amazing powers. Alone or in combination, these foods are powerfully [beneficial]."

So starts the first chapter of Garlic and Vinegar: Nature’s Healing Twins by Julia Charles. At Red Moon Herbs one of our favorite products is our Garlic Elixir, a tangy, pungent, yet slightly sweet combination of garlic, apple cider vinegar and honey; a delicious way to nourish and stimulate your immune system. We buy our garlic and honey from local farms to make this tonic to support healthy sinuses, a well throat, and overall optimal immunity and seasonal wellness. 

The garlic harvest is in and this week at Red Moon Herbs we are making a new batch of our beloved Garlic Elixir. We get garlic from Yellowroot Farm, a small biodynamic farm on the land here, and separate the heads into their individual cloves to be chopped up and mixed with organic apple cider vinegar and local honey.

The outcome is a delicious blend of the pungent flavor of garlic and the sweet and sour flavors of the honey and vinegar. I love to take some when I feel the faintest beginnings of a tickle in my throat. Often I take it because I just love the way it tastes.

Garlic (Allium sativum) Elixir is a tasty favorite which may support the immune system using the classic combo of garlic and honey. Garlic’s many benefits, mixed with a small amount of raw mountain honey and organic raw apple cider vinegar, are supportive of year-round wellness throughout the challenges of the seasons. Our Garlic Elixir is a pleasantly delicious way to receive the many potential benefits of garlic.

Since the garlic harvest season is fast approaching we’d like to share our Garlic Elixir recipe with you. As you stroll through your local farmer’s market this summer, keep an eye out for garlic and honey to brew up some zesty Garlic Elixir.

Red Moon Herbs Garlic Elixir Recipe

Makes: 1 quart; for smaller batch use same ratio

Prep time: 30 min + 6 weeks brewing time

Ingredients:

• 10 oz garlic
• 16 oz apple cider vinegar (or other)
• 5 oz honey

Directions:

Break apart several heads of garlic into individual cloves (leaving the skins on is fine) and roughly chop with a knife or minimally chop in a food processor.

Fill a quart jar with chopped garlic, should be approximately two-thirds full.

Mix together 3 parts vinegar to 1 part honey. If your honey is too thick to mix, warm it in a saucepan over low heat until it becomes liquid and thin.

Pour the honey-vinegar mixture over the garlic until the jar is full. Use a plastic lid or cover the mouth of the jar with wax paper before securing the lid (the vinegar tends to rust metal lids).

Tend your brew every couple of days for the first week, then once a week after that. Poke it with a spoon to release air bubbles, then top it off with the vinegar.

After 6 weeks, strain out the garlic and enjoy.