In mid-October or so, a friend of mine reached out about this stuff called Fire Cider. She asked, "Have you ever made this?" Not only had I never made it, I had never heard of it. But my friend is a bonafide "Earth Mother," so I knew she had a little secret resource that I had never hear of. My friend Jen is a researcher of energy work, a practitioner of natural life enhancements and a discoverer of unusual but helpful health impacts. This Fire Cider is one such health impact, natural life enhancement, that as we move into the "season of sick" you may find really super useful.
I also conducted more research. I had heard from my Uncle about the thieves of the plague having doused themselves with some concoction of vinegar and oils that staved off the contracting and eventual death from the Bubonic Plague. I found the Nourished Kitchen in which, Jenny, an herbalist and writer of the information mentions an entire history of this. It's really fascinating! She also has a recipe which she calls
"Four Thieves Vinegar." Although it is different from Fire Cider, I think I'll try it next because it's aim is still to increase our immunity. May as well! It certainly can't hurt. Plus, variety is the spice of life and now I'll have two brews to keep us healthy through the winter!
We began our batches about 2 days apart from each other. I got all the ingredients on a Sunday and she got them a couple days later. You know everything is time dependent and we are both working ladies with families so we do what we can. We chopped, cut, minced, whirred and blended all of the stuff together and let it sit on the counter for a month, maybe a little longer even.
People said the most outlandish things to see this jar of "stuff" on our kitchen counter. My mom called it "mung" and said she would NEVER try it. My uncle said it sounded interesting. My sister-in-law said it stunk like feet. And my husband, God bless him, just hung out waiting for me to be done with it.
The reality is though, that we are headed into cold and flu season, not to mention the nightmare germ is around still so if this stuff can shorten the length of any viral symptoms then load me up with said "mung!"
It was a fun project to do with my friend. It was a reason for us to be in pretty constant communication and our feedback was real; Authentic trials and tribulations of trying something new and natural.
Following are first my photos and notes, then I have posted Jen's photos and notes.
I was lucky enough to source fresh herbs from my garden. But fresh horseradish was impossible to find so I used prepared horseradish. Also, the recipe on Homestead and Chill uses Eucalyptus essential oil. I didn't have any so I skipped it.
It looked so pretty in the blender.
This is a photograph I took of the Fire Cider sitting on the counter right after I filled the jar. Everyday I shook the jar to mix it up. While it fermented the last thing we wanted was a mold batch too. Shaking the jar prevents it from growing fungus and instead spurs forth a healthy fermentation.
Here it is on Day 35. I probably could've put in the jars it on Day 30 but I was sidetracked by all kinds of other things so I just let it sit there. This is the pic I took yesterday before I put it into the bottles.
From above too so you can see exactly what it looks like in the jar after the month long fermenting process.
What a gorgeous color!
In the jars and ready to sip!
I tried it out immediately. It is quite a tonic-very heavy on the vinegar and not really spicy enough for my tastes. But drinkable just the same. I hope it is potent. How did we as a society move so far away from natural medicine? It worked for grave robbers during the Black Death!
Below are Jen's pics and notes:
These are Jen's ingredients. She processed her ingredients differently than I did. She cut all her ingredients and layered them in the jars. I whirred everything together in the blender.
Here is a photo of her batch on her kitchen counter. Gorgeous colors! Mine were not this pretty but hopefully we were both successful in the fermentation of this medicine.
After a month of fermentation, this was Jen's yield. That should last her through the winter. She just tried her tonic today and reported that it was spicy and not too vinegary. She says, "It tastes like Nature's Medicine!"
Jen added the honey after the final fermentation and before she downed it. I added the honey a day before straining and bottling.
I loved this project, I felt enthusiastic about this adventure the moment Jen reached out to me about it. Naturalist medicinals are just one of the ways Jen and I are soul sisters. We have known each other for years and have often compared notes about bohemian lifestyles, brewing concoctions, boat travel, cooking, crystals and energy work and exercise. We have had numerous adventures together not the least of which was a weekend at the
Yoga Farm Ashram (which, if you haven't done, you won't be sorry. Try it!)
