The spruce tree is a widespread coniferous tree growing in certain parts of Europe, especially in Northern, Eastern, and Central Europe. Spruce tips themselves are very healthy, and it is not surprising that the potent healing power of young spruce tips was already known to our ancestors.
The essential oil in spruce tips can alleviate or suppress the symptoms of colds, relieve throat pain and coughs, and also alleviate rheumatism and muscle pain. Thanks to the high content of antioxidant flavonoids, regular use of spruce tip syrup will strengthen your immunity. The high content of vitamin C is also indispensable.
The spruce tip syrup is made from fresh young tips with a wonderfully bright light green color and a lovely flavor. They should not be longer than ten centimeters because up to 10 centimeters in length, the largest amount of essential oils and mineral salts in the highest concentration occur.
The ideal time for collecting young spruce tips is May and early June. Collecting them in a wicker basket or other open container is best. A plastic bag or any other closed bag is not suitable because the spruce tips will steam before you take them home.
What you’ll need:
- Young spruce tips (two-three mugs)
- Lemon
- Sugar – white sugar, brown sugar, or liquid sugar
- Large glass jar
Spruce Tip Syrup Recipe
Rinse the spruce tips thoroughly with cold water and dry them gently with a paper kitchen towel or a cloth towel.
Wash the jar with hot water, then allow it to dry, or dry it with a cloth if you don’t want to wait. Make sure the pot is 100% clean. This is especially important so that your spruce syrup does not spoil.
Now it’s time for layering. Place the first layer of spruce tips on the bottom and compact them thoroughly with a spoon or other kitchen tool. Sprinkle with a layer of approximately an inch of sugar and place on that two lemon slices. It should be an organic lemon, not chemically treated. If you have lemon juice instead of a lemon, you can use it. However, I would be careful that there were no added substances in the liquid, and it was 100% lemon juice.
Place another layer of spruce tips on the sugar and continue layering until the whole jar is full. The last layer should be sugar or lemon, not spruce tips because no juice would come out of the previous layer.
Cover the filled jar with clingwrap and rubberize thoroughly. If you do not have a clingwrap, close the jar with the lid that came with it. However, make sure that the lid is as clean as the glass.
Place the jar with the spruce tip on a window or other sunny place and from time to time, check to see if it starts to form a syrup. It can take one, two, sometimes even more weeks. As soon as we don’t see any sugar in the jar, but syrup, strain it through a fine sieve and pour it into bottles.
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