Glam Gardener NYC offers organic and wild-foraged herbal products, art, and education under one roof.
This article is part of our Foraging Blog, which hosts a compilation of online resources, articles, and videos made for both seasoned nature lovers & beginners alike.
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Let’s keep it simple. Fire cider is an apple cider vinegar-based tonic. It's infused with world-renowned healthy plants and raw honey. It's a popular herbal remedy designed to warm the body during the cold season.
If you search the internet, you'll find all sorts of fire cider recipes offered by both DIY herbalism blogs and product makers like ourselves.
Glam Gardener NYC crafts fire cider with all of its traditional ingredients, but we include what others neglect to.Our fire cider is made with 100% organic, local to New York, small family-farm grown, and wild-foraged plants.Why? We take sustainable food systems and natural health seriously. We believe infusing these values into our products creates the best outcomes for other humans, ecosystems, and our bodies.
So let's get to the nitty-gritty of what fire cider is, why you should incorporate it throughout the cold season. Then we'll break down why we chose to use the ingredients that we did.
Why do people take fire cider?
In short, people consume fire cider to boost health. That's what this herbalism stuff is all about, am I right?
Let's get a little specific. Fire cider is an oxymel. You can add that to your herbalism vocabulary! Oxymels are simply infusions of vinegar and honey, that have been recognized for promoting health for thousands of years.
Fun fact: In 400 B.C.E., Hippocrates said that oxymels are useful remedies in promoting the freedom of breathing!
People consume oxymels like fire cider for all sorts of ailments, but here are a few popular uses.
Strengthen the body during cold & flu season.Improve digestion and circulation throughout the body.To reduce inflammation.To promote expectoration (ejecting phlegm or mucus from the throat or lungs by coughing, hawking, or spitting). Sounds gross, but it's getting the job done!
This practice is similar to the popular practice of drinking a shot of apple cider vinegar daily, which comes with its own benefits.
But our fire cider infuses organic, local, and wild ingredients naturally designed to boost health. We'd argue, that's a bit better!
How do you take it?
Shake the bottle well, then incorporate 1-2 tablespoons in with water, tea, or in place of apple cider vinegar in your favorite recipe.
Many people make salad dressings with apple cider vinegar, infuse it into bone broth, or sneak it into a delicious dish.
But we keep it simple by infusing 1 tablespoon of cider with 8 ounces of water. Then, we chug it down first thing in the morning. The first couple of times you consume it, it might pack a little too strong of a punch for you.
Remember, it's vinegar + spice + citrus! So if your mouth is exploding, it's working!
Please note: This is not a beverage in and of itself. If you drink this straight from the bottle, you'll hate us, and we don't want you to hate us! Take our advice and infuse it.
What makes Glam Gardener NYC's fire cider different?
Our fire cider has more local, small family farm grown, organic, and wild-foraged ingredients than anything else you can find on the market.
This product supports your local forager, beekeeper, and farmer!
We're obsessed with eating wild plants and sustainable food systems. This fire cider features two incredible, but underappreciated wild plants: spicebush and garlic mustard.
Spicebush & garlic mustard are recognized by foragers, herbalists, and chefs across the globe for their magical properties. The former is a native plant used by Native Americans as a medicinal remedy for cold & flu symptoms and more.
The rest of the ingredients are hyper-local to New York, grown by small family farms, or organic. We take sustainability seriously at Glam Gardener NYC.
Organic Ingredients
Bragg® Organic Apple Cider Vinegar
Bragg® is the supreme maker of organic apple cider vinegar. They're a trusted brand that has earned its stripes from being a leader in the industry for over 100 years.
Here's why folks used apple cider vinegar across the globe as a daily wellness supplement. The acetic acid component of apple cider vinegar has been shown to elicit several beneficial health effects. Here are 3 from Bragg's website.
It helps people control appetite and manage weight gain.It helps maintain healthy blood sugar levels.It helps maintain healthy cholesterol levels.
Fresh Whole Ginger Root
Ginger is a root that helps the body stay warm in the winter. It promotes digestion, blood circulation, boosts the immune system, and here's an added benefit: it can be effective at reducing nausea if that's something you deal with.
Fresh Whole Turmeric Root
Oh, turmeric, turmeric, turmeric. Where do we start? Turmeric is one of the strongest anti-inflammatory plants out there. It's used by many to relieve congestion and it provides your daily dose of antioxidants.
Lemon
This blend earns its citrusy flavor from this fruit. Lemons contain vitamin C and plenty of plant compounds which are great for heart and overall health.
Cayenne pepper
Helps the body stay warm in the winter as it adds heat. Hot peppers contain a chemical called capsaicin, which comes with a wealth of health benefits. Read about the effects of capsaicin in the excerpt below.
Local Ingredients: Grown in New York & New Jersey
Raw honey from Green Stinger Trading & Beezy Beez Beekeeping. Green Stinger Trading and Beezy Beez Beekeeping are great friends of ours here at Glam Gardener NYC. Their bees are raised in Staten Island, New York City. Like we said earlier, fire cider can be a bit rough, so we add honey in this blend to sweeten it up.
Local, raw honey is the best kind of sweetener nature has to offer. Here's why.
Bees do the local ecosystem a huge favor by pollinating local plants. As a forager, I thank you, awesome little bees!
Their honey is packed with delicious and sweet antifungal, antioxidant, and antibacterial properties. Most store-bought honey is processed. Raw honey is not, which is why we use it. Supporting local honey means we're doing the sustainable food system, our neighbors, and our local ecosystem a favor.
All products with honey list the disclaimer that babies under 1-year-old should not consume it. Apply that rule to this cider as well.
Please note that we do carry a vegan version of our cider without honey.
Onion
This kitchen staple packs more of a punch than you think. Onions, namely red onions, contain powerful antioxidant and antibacterial properties. Onion is a traditional ingredient featured in most fire cider blends.
Garlic
Garlic is used as a natural remedy for boosting the immune system, combating cold symptoms, and adding heat in a different way than hot peppers. Like, onion, garlic contains antioxidants and is a delicious addition to this blend.
Serrano, Habanero & Jalepeño peppers
Capsaicin is the chemical in hot peppers that lends them their spice. It's been recognized for promoting a wealth of health benefits, including promoting fat burning, increasing metabolism, and more.
Get this, there's research that suggests capsaicin has the ability to kill prostate cancer cells. Woah, that's some powerful stuff. Check out the actual peer-reviewed study published in the National Institute of Health.
Link to the study, titled, "The pepper's natural ingredient capsaicin induces autophagy blockage in prostate cancer cells."
Rosemary
Rosemary has been touted as a cognitive stimulant! We could all use a little memory improvement with the anti-inflammatory and circulation-promoting effects of this herb.
Oregano
Oregano is well known for its antibacterial properties. It also couples as a diges
Wild-harvested ingredients
Spicebush Leaves, Bark, and Berries
Spicebush is an amazing native tree that grows edible bark, twigs, leaves, and berries. Once you meet spicebush, you'll never forget it, because all of its parts are incredibly aromatic and uniquely so. It's hard to describe its smell. Think about a cross between allspice and lemon balm, with a hint of cinnamon.
Spicebush has been used as a tonic for hundreds, if not thousands of years. Since it is a native plant to North America, it was long used by the Indigenous people that lived here. It was recognized as a cold & flu remedy, diaphoretic (sweat inducer), and cleanser.
Why include wild plants?
Wild plants are free from pesticides and synthetic additives. Plus, they grow in their natural environments, lending them rich nutritional profiles & oftentimes superfood status!
Plus, we're kinda obsessed with them. So we wrote an article on the 5 Benefits of Eating Wild Plants to explain some reasons for why everyone should start.
So, are you convinced?
If you're ready to incorporate fire cider into your natural health routine, you're in the right place. Check out our fire cider, and if you choose to make it yours, let us know what you think of it.
glamgardenernyc
Fire cider (superfood infused daily wellness tonic) with local honey, wild plants, and organic ingredients
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