Natural Cold Symptom Relief: Mullein, Plantain, Elderberry Tea

Ease your cold symptoms with nature’s ready medicinal plants – mullein, plantain and elderberry. Here’s my recipe for homemade, straight-from the-yard, Mullein, Plantain, Elderberry Tea.

In the South, we have mullein and plantain growing everywhere. There’s also plenty of elderberry if you know how to identify it. (My husband has a video on how to identify elderberry here.) We’ve been putting up elderberry syrup and juice for the last two summers and use it through the winter to boost our immune systems.

When I woke up with a sore throat and sinus headache, I had the feeling I should try the benefits of mullein. So this morning I went out in our front yard, plucked some mullein and plantain, and created a warm tea.

Ingredients

1.5 cups boiling water
2 small-medium sized Mullein leaves
2 TBSP Plantain leaves cut in 1/2 inch pieces
1 serving of your favorite immune booster drink
1 TBSP Elderberry Syrup

Note: You don’t boil the ingredients. You boil the water first and then steep the ingredients for 10-15 minutes

How to Make Mullein, Plantain, Elderberry Tea

Step 1: Locate Mullein

Mullein is a fuzzy plant that grows out from a center point. It’s commonly found in the Southern United States and other parts of the country.

This site explains how to identify mullein.

Step 2: Gather Healthy Mullein Leaves

Some people can have a skin reaction to mullein so it’s best to snip the leaves with some scissors and handle them carefully. They aren’t prickly. They’re soft. I’ve never had a skin reaction, but it’s always best to err on the side of caution if you haven’t handled the plant before.

Step 3: Gather Plantain

Plantain also grows out from a center point. Its leaves are oval or elongated, are generally shiny and have ridges that run from the center point out to the tip of the leaves.

Since it’s winter the leaves are small and new. I gathered about 6 small leaves and snipped them in half for my tea.

Here’s what they look like when they’re bigger.

Step 4: Boil Water

Boil 1.5 cups of water in a teapot or regular pot. I have an electric tea kettle that boils water super fast, so I brought my water to a boil and poured it in a mug.

Step 5: Put Leaves in Boiled Water

Cut the mullein leaves in fourths, and the plantain into 1/2 long pieces and put them in the boiled water. Push them down so they are covered with the water. You can do this in the pot you cooked them in or in a mug like I did.

Step 6: Cover and Steep for 10-15 minutes

I put a small saucer upside down over my mug to form a lid. If you keep it in the pot you boiled your water in, you can just cover it with the pot’s lid. Let steep for 10-15 minutes.

Step 7: Strain Liquid

Next, you’ll want to strain the tea. You can use a fine sieve. Or I like to use a cheesecloth. You want to catch the tiny hairs from the mullein so they don’t irritate your throat.

Step 8: Add Elderberry and Your Favorite Immune Booster Drink

After you have strained the tea, it will be a pale yellow. Next add a serving of your favorite immune system booster and a Tablespoon of elderberry syrup or elderberry juice.

Step 9: Enjoy Warm!

Enjoy your Mullein, Plantain and Elderberry tea warm. It’s a soothing, tasty liquid I think you’ll enjoy.

Important Note About Elderberry

Please Note: If you have Covid, you may want to leave the elderberry out. Some believe it can cause a cytokin storm in the lungs with Covid. Watch the video below for details.