It’s that time of year when you sit in class and seem to be surrounded by people coughing and sneezing. As the weather gets colder, sickness gets more common. Throughout the cooler months, people constantly search for remedies to their sickness, or ways to prevent getting sick altogether.
Fire cider is an herbal recipe that is said to strengthen immunity and prevent sickness before it happens. A hodgepodge of plants, herbs, and spices soaked in apple cider vinegar, fire cider is an all natural concoction that some people swear by to remain healthy, especially during winter.
What is fire cider?
Fire cider is a combination of over a dozen ingredients that are all said to have a variety of detoxifying and immunity-boosting properties. TikTok creator @appalachian_forager makes fire cider every year in the fall, and posted a recipe for the tonic. After chopping up all of the ingredients to fire cider and adding the apple cider vinegar, it has to be stored for a couple weeks to a month so that the nutrients from the ingredients can be absorbed into the liquid. The result is a hot, pungent tonic that is said to preserve health.
How was fire cider created?
For centuries, native Americans, enslaved Africans, and other cultures would make apple cider vinegar from scratch. It was infused with many of the same fire cider ingredients we know today, according to content creator @beautyherbsandtea, who made a batch of fire cider of her own.
The term “fire cider,” however, wasn’t coined until the 1970s by herbalist Rosemary Gladstar, who taught her students how to make and sell it. From there, it was sold by other companies, cited in books, and taught in the winter health curriculum at many herbal schools.
What’s in fire cider?
A variety of ingredients can be used for fire cider. Most common recipes include a mix of fruit, vegetables, spices, and plants.
Content creator @madisonostgaard on TikTok posted a video making fire cider, and her recipe is straightforward and representative of typical fire cider ingredients. The full list of ingredients she includes in order is: lemons, oranges, red onion, jalapenos, horseradish root, rosemary, parsley, ginger, onion, turmeric, thyme, oregano, garlic, cinnamon, and cayenne. After adding the apple cider vinegar, Ostgaard said she puts it away for two weeks, strains it, and then can use it. After straining, she stores it in the fridge.
For another recipe variation, @glowwithella on TikTok made a recipe with some unique ingredients. This recipe includes: ginger, garlic, onion, thyme, oregano, cloves, ceylon cinnamon, cayenne pepper, fennel seed, lemon, star anise, and burdock root. Of course, most of us don’t have all of these items sitting around in our kitchen, so if you want to make your own fire cider, feel free to get creative with what ingredients you include. Be sure to have it sit for at least a couple of weeks before straining it to get the best effect.
What are some health benefits of specific fire cider ingredients?
Apple cider vinegar has been proven to be able to kill harmful bacteria and lower blood sugar levels in the body. It only makes sense that this is the essential ingredient of fire cider for its cleansing properties.
Along with that, onion, another essential ingredient of fire cider, has been proven to feature anti-inflammatory properties and succeed in boosting the immune system, improving lung function, and preventing respiratory infection.