Sage syrup with lemon

Ingredients for 1 servings:

• 300 g sage leaves
• 3 organic lemons
• 3 liters of water
• 2 kg sugar
• 20 g citric acid

Instructions

Working time approx. 15 minutes; Rest time approx. 15 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 10 minutes; Total time approx. 40 minutes

Enjoy cold or hot

Wash the sage leaves and finer stems and dry them slightly; the usable mass should be 300 g. Then roughly chop the leaves. Quarter the lemons and cut the quarters into thin slices. Bring the sage and lemon pieces to a boil with the water in a saucepan and boil for another minute. Let it steep for 15 minutes and then pour through a fine sieve (I always pour the liquid through a cheesecloth or muslin cloth afterward, as I want the syrup to be as clear as possible). Bring the liquid to a boil in a clean saucepan with the sugar and citric acid and cook until the sugar is completely dissolved. Pour into sterilized screw-top bottles or twist-off jars and seal. The syrup will keep unopened in the pantry for months. Once opened, store in the refrigerator. This recipe yields approximately 4 liters of syrup. The lemony flavor makes the syrup very refreshing when cold in mineral water. In winter we like to drink it when we have a sore throat, for example, brewed with hot water, or I use it to sweeten herbal tea or cough tea. Even though syrup keeps well in the fridge once opened due to its sugar content, I often fill it hot into smaller twist-off jars so that I don’t always have such a large amount open. These jars are also a popular gift during cold season. Note: You can of course add the sugar and citric acid to the liquid before straining. However, since the liquid has to be boiled again anyway to ensure it is as hot as possible when it is bottled for preservation, I always add the sugar and citric acid then.