Cold & Flu Infusion

WHERE IT LIVES

A tropical annual of the mallow family, probably first domesticated in West Africa and now grown across the tropics.

THE HARVEST

Once the flower fades, the fleshy red calyx swells around the seed pod. It is picked by hand and dried in the sun.

FOLKLORE & TRADITIONAL USE

Karkadé in Egypt and Sudan, bissap in Senegal, agua de Jamaica in Mexico: across three continents it is a drink of hospitality, served hot in winter and cold in summer.

EVIDENCE NOTE

No human trials for colds were found. Trials in adults show hibiscus tea lowers systolic blood pressure by around 7 mmHg on average, which is why it carries a caution. Its role here is flavour, colour and tradition.

WHERE IT LIVES

The same hedgerow shrub that gives elderberries, found across Europe on woodland edges, farm tracks and waste ground.

THE HARVEST

The flat cream heads are picked in late May and June on a dry, sunny morning, when fully open and scented, and dried quickly to keep their colour.

FOLKLORE & TRADITIONAL USE

Hot elderflower tea was the household way to bring on a sweat and break a fever. Grieve records elderflower with peppermint as an old remedy for colds and influenza.

EVIDENCE NOTE

The European Medicines Agency recognises elderflower as a traditional herbal medicine for the early symptoms of a cold, in adults and young people over 12. There are no clinical trials. Nothing was found for flu.

WHERE IT LIVES

Grassland, field margins and lawns across Europe and temperate Asia, its feathery leaves and flat white flower heads common in late summer.

THE HARVEST

The flowering tops are cut in summer, on a dry day, and dried in bunches.

FOLKLORE & TRADITIONAL USE

Its name comes from Achilles, said to have used it on his soldiers’ wounds at Troy, and its old English names include soldier’s woundwort. With elderflower and peppermint it makes the classic hot fever tea of British herbal practice.

EVIDENCE NOTE

The European Medicines Agency recognises yarrow for appetite and mild digestive complaints, not colds. Its place in cold-weather teas rests on long practice rather than research.

WHERE IT LIVES

A natural hybrid of water mint and spearmint that favours damp, rich ground. It was first described in England by John Ray in 1696.

THE HARVEST

The leaves are cut just before flowering, when the menthol-rich oil is strongest, and dried away from sunlight.

FOLKLORE & TRADITIONAL USE

Mitcham, a few miles from Herne Hill, was once the centre of English peppermint growing, and Mitcham peppermint oil was prized across Europe through the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

EVIDENCE NOTE

The European Medicines Agency recognises peppermint leaf for traditional digestive use, not colds. Menthol gives a sensation of cool, open breathing. Its role here is aroma and lift.

WHERE IT LIVES

An evergreen tree of the laurel family, native to Sri Lanka, where most true cinnamon is still grown.

THE HARVEST

After the rains, young shoots are cut and the inner bark peeled away by hand, then left to curl into fine, layered quills.

FOLKLORE & TRADITIONAL USE

One of the oldest traded spices, valued in ancient Egypt and Rome. Herodotus told a story of great birds building nests from cinnamon sticks on unreachable cliffs, a tale that helped keep its source a secret.

EVIDENCE NOTE

Ceylon cinnamon contains far less coumarin than the cheaper cassia, which is why it is specified here. It is used for warmth and flavour, and traditionally for digestion.

WHERE IT LIVES

Rich, disturbed ground across the temperate world: field edges, old gardens and anywhere people have kept animals.

THE HARVEST

The young tops are picked in spring, before flowering, and dried. Drying removes the sting.

FOLKLORE & TRADITIONAL USE

Nettle fibre was spun and woven into cloth for centuries, and in Hans Christian Andersen’s The Wild Swans a sister knits nettle shirts to save her brothers. In the kitchen it was the first green of spring.

EVIDENCE NOTE

The European Medicines Agency recognises nettle leaf for traditional use but not under 12, for lack of data. Here it is traditional nourishment, giving the blend a green, mineral depth.

DOSE

Infuse 1 teaspoon in freshly boiled water, covered, for 10-15 minutes. Adults and children 7+: 1-3 cups daily.

CAUTIONS

Not for children under 7. Not for use in pregnancy or breastfeeding. Avoid with an allergy to the daisy family (yarrow), the mint family (peppermint) or Peru balsam (cinnamon). Take care with low blood pressure or blood-pressure medicines (hibiscus).

DURATION

A cup a day through the colder months, or up to three from the first signs of a cold. If cold symptoms worsen or last more than a week, seek medical advice.