Alternative to brandy as a preservative?

[moltar]

I found an interesting Elder-Ginger Syrup recipe and it uses brandy as a preservative. I don't consume alcohol for the last 1.5 years. I wouldn't want to use it even as a preservative. What alternative natural preservative could I use?

[WanderingOak]

Honey itself is a preservative, so I am not sure why the recipie calls for brandy. The only reason I can think of is for the taste, and perhaps the brandy thins the mixture a little bit. I would try the honey mixture without brandy, and if it works, keep it that way. If you really are concerned that it might go bad on you, make smaller batches as you need them, or just keep it in the 'fridge. Worry is just as harmful to the immune system as the flu, IMHO.

[openeyes]

I'm surprised. I just checked the ingredients of an elderberry syrup produced by a beekeeper I occasionally get raw honey from and I noticed that even their formula has 3% grain alcohol in it:

"Proprietary blend: raw honey, elderberries*, apple cider vinegar*, propolis, echinacea
*organic
other ingredients: 3% pure grain alcohol"

Apitherapy Raw Honey from Honey Gardens Apiaries

I too would have thought the alcohol was unnecessary, and grain alcohol hardly sounds like something that would be added for flavoring. I'm guessing that you could get by without the alcohol as long as you refrigerate it. This is going on what was said here:

"Honey keeps longer than any food and will keep for up to 4,000 years. As there is honey in all of our products, this helps them be naturally preserved. You should keep the honey and all other products at room temperature, except Rejuvenation Tonic. We recommend keeping it in the refrigerator after opening it because it is the only one of our products without alcohol, so there is less natural preservative in the bottle."

Elderberry Extract & Apitherapy Raw Honey from Honey Gardens

You might also want to include apple cider vinegar like the above recipe does, since it's mentioned further down the page that it "helps “pull” the good stuff out of the herbs and reduces the need for as much alcohol to do this (3% in elderberry syrup, 14% in wild cherry)". I tend to use Bragg's raw apple cider vinegar.

As mentioned on another site:

"Herbal vinegars are prepared like tinctures, but the herbs are infused into vinegar instead of into alcohol. Though vinegar does not draw out an herb's properties as well as alcohol, herbal vinegars offer the convenience of a tincture without the alcohol. Because most herbal vinegars are designed for culinary use, they are not medicinal strength."

Herbs for Health and Healing Preparations for Internal Use

So by avoiding alcohol you may have trouble producing something quite as powerful, but it should still be better than nothing. Even honey by itself has been found to be more effective than standard cold medicine:

"A research study has determined that children who get a dose of honey cough less and sleep better than those who get cough medicine with dextromethorphan (DM), the ingredient in most over-the-counter products for coughs."

Is Honey More Effective Than Cough Medicine?

[moltar]

I wouldn't mind 3% alcohol, but the recipe is talking about "cups" Thank you for all this information, I will go over it tonight.