DIY Herbal Throat Spray Recipe

Learn to make a quick and easy throat spray using tinctures (or herbal tea) and honey. It’s a delicious way to treat sore throats, coughs, and colds!

DIY Herbal Throat Spray surrounded by fresh thyme, sage, and lemon balm leaves, and fresh peach blossoms

Today, I’m sharing how I make customized herbal honey throat sprays to treat my family’s scratchy and sore throats.

I use raw honey in these, but you can substitute vegetable glycerin for a vegan product. Also, remember that honey should not be given to children under a year old.

I base my throat sprays on a recipe found in Rosemary Gladstar’s book: Medicinal Herbs, A Beginner’s Guide. The recipe revolves around using tinctures, but if you prefer to avoid alcohol completely, you can substitute a strong herbal tea instead.

I’ll give more details on that below, along with a list of herbs to consider using when designing your spray.

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bottle of throat spray made with herbs and honey on a wooden background with fresh lemon balm leaves, thyme, sage leaves, and tiny blue wildflowers

DIY Herbal Throat Spray Recipe

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons total of herbal tincture(s) or tea – see list below
  • 2 tablespoon raw honey (or vegetable glycerine)
  • 1 tablespoon warm water
  • 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract

Directions to Make

Mix all of the ingredients together and pour the mixture into a 2 ounce glass spray bottle. I buy glass spray bottles at Specialty Bottle.

Directions to Use

Spray into your mouth, directed towards your throat, as needed to relieve sore throat pain. When made with tinctures, this throat spray will last for several weeks, stored in your refrigerator. Do not give honey containing products to kids under 1 year old.

Herbal Tea Variation

If you don’t want to use alcohol based tinctures, you can make this recipe with a strong herbal tea instead. Just be sure to keep the resulting spray in your refrigerator and be aware that the shelf life will be reduced to about 2 days.

To  make a strong herbal tea:

  • Place 1 or 2 tablespoons of dried herbs, or 2 to 4 tbsp fresh herbs, in a heat proof jar.
  • Pour one cup of simmering hot water over them.
  • Let this steep for at least an hour, or more. The longer it steeps, the stronger the tea will be.
  • Strain and use in the recipe above instead of the tinctures and water.
  • Extra tea can be frozen in ice cube trays for later use.
herbs for throat spray

Herbs to Use in Your Sore Throat Spray Recipes

Be sure to research each herb before use to ensure that it’s not contraindicated for your personal health situation. A persistent or severe sore throat can be a symptom of serious illness and may need evaluation and/or treatment by a health care professional.

Tinctures can be found at your local health store, online (I buy from Mountain Rose Herbs or Woodland Essence), or you can make your own by following the directions HERE (my recipe for ginger tincture), only using the herb(s) of your choice.

My favorite combination is about 2 tsp spilanthes tincture, 2 to 3 tsp lemon balm & honeysuckle tincture, then the remaining 1 to 2 tsp is made up of small doses each of a variety of tinctures. This makes a slightly throat numbing spray that fights germs while it soothes!

These are just a few ideas for tinctures I tend to grab more often; there are many more options to mix and match.

Invest in a reference book such as Making Plant Medicine by Richo Cech. It lists many plants, their uses and contraindications, and will give you direction on other herbs to try out. Hands down, it’s the most loved and used book in my personal library!

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More Remedies for Cold & Flu Season

This article was originally published January, 2014 and updated January, 2022.

spray bottle filled with throat spray, surrounded by fresh herbs
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DIY Herbal Throat Spray Recipe

Learn to make a quick and easy throat spray using tinctures (or herbal tea) and honey. It’s a delicious way to treat sore throats, coughs, and colds!
Keyword colds & flu, sore throat, throat spray
Total Time 10 minutes
Servings 1.5 ounces

Equipment

  • 1 two-ounce spray bottle
  • measuring spoons

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp herbal tinctures (or herbal tea)
  • 2 tbsp honey (or vegetable glycerin)
  • 1 tbsp warm water
  • 1/8 tsp peppermint extract, or to taste

Instructions

  • Mix all of the ingredients together.
  • Pour into a small spray bottle.
  • To use, spray into your mouth, directing towards your throat.
  • Store in the refrigerator between uses.
  • Shelf life: If using tinctures, 2 to 3 weeks. If using herbal tea, 2 days.

Notes

Herbal Tea Variation

If you don’t want to use alcohol based tinctures, make with a strong herbal tea instead. If using tea, use spray within 2 days. To  make a strong herbal tea: Place 1 or 2 tablespoons of dried herbs, or 2 to 4 tbsp fresh herbs, in a heat proof jar. Pour one cup of simmering hot water over them. Let this steep for at least an hour, or more. The longer it steeps, the stronger the tea will be. Strain and use in the recipe above instead of the tinctures and water. Extra tea can be frozen in ice cube trays for later use.

Tinctures to Try in Your Sore Throat Spray 

My favorite combination is about 2 tsp spilanthes tincture, 2 to 3 tsp lemon balm & honeysuckle tincture, then the remaining 1 to 2 tsp is made up of small doses each of a variety of tinctures. This makes a slightly throat numbing spray that fights germs while it soothes!
These are just a few ideas for tinctures I tend to grab more often; there are many more options to mix and match.
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16 Comments

  1. HI, Jen,
    I’ve been looking for a simple throat spray recipe. I’m going to try this next time anyone in my family gets a sore throat.
    Thanks for all the wonderful recipes you share.
    How is the Herb course going?

  2. thanks for all the wonderful information that you provided in your article. I always feel its better to use a natural when possible for any ailment. Thanks for sharing. Visiting from Wildcrafting Wednesdays. Have a wonderful healthy day!

  3. I just started making home made soap and I’m so enjoy it ..but I love your recipes & thx for sharing them…

  4. Thanks for sharing your remedies & recipes. I’m a Licensed Nurse, & have had Physician Assistants, Physicians that have recommended some of these for throat irritations & for soothing stomach discomfort. I do a lot of crafts, soap & candle making, lotions & body scrubs, scrapbooking, floral arrangements. Many blessings to you.

    1. Hi Darlene, Thanks for the kind words! It sounds like you have lots of great hobbies (some of my favorites too!) :)

  5. Hi.

    I used to work for Julique and they had a spilanthes tincture that one of the executives told me to use for cold sores, etc. They had told me to apply it over the area where i felt one coming up. When I did, it went away and never came through. Once my daughter and I started using the splinathes tincture, we never had cold sores again. Have you had anyone else have this same experience?

  6. Do you use only one of these herbal tinctures or can you blend the herbs to make on tincture? The only one I don’t have is schisanders, the rest I have?

  7. Hi Jan, can you tell me why this recipe (using a propolis tincture) has a short shelf life? Shouldn’t it be good forever? Thanks!

    1. Hi Melissa! Once you dilute the tincture with water & honey, it has a lower level of preservation (alcohol percentage) than straight tincture does. I’ve used propolis tincture in a lotion and sadly it got moldy within a month or so, so it’s a lot less effective when diluted. However, there’s a good chance these throat sprays (at least the tincture based ones) last longer than a few weeks, but I like to play it on the safe side and try to use them up by that time. :)

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