Divine Cordial

Divine Cordial

According to the book, ‘Magic of Herbs’ by David Conway, no health-giving mixture will be complete without the very mentioning of this recipe. This is one tough recipe as it takes almost a year to complete. However, all this effort will pay off by itself when you smell the heavenly fragrance of the Cordial. At least this is what he said. Living here in Malaysia prohibits me from doing such wonderful experiment. There are simply no such ingredients available. Furthermore, it requires a mixture of flowers from the four seasons, which is impossible for us, the tropical country people, to achieve. However, maybe one day I will be inventing a tropical rainforest divine cordial. Who knows, I might succeed…

So here is the recipe:

Starting in March, gather the followings, two ounce each (all the ingredients should be dried):

1. Acorns Nut


2. Betony (whole herb)


3. Cypress (presumably leaves)


4. Gentian (root)


5. Orris Root (root)


6. Sweet Scabious (flowers)

Pound the above ingredients in a stout mortar, to these add an ounce of the followings:

1. Cinnamon (powdered bark)


2. Yellow Sandalwood (powdered wood)

And two drachms (0.25 ounce) of Mace, seven juniper berries (dried), and some Coriander Seeds to taste.

All of the above ingredients should be pound into fine powders and to these, add peels of six oranges, and pour them to a stone jar containing a gallon of spirits of wine. Give it a nice shake and cork it tightly. Store the jar in a cool dry place, for three to four weeks.

After which, the first blooms of spring should be added, a handful of each or as much as you like:

1. Bluebells


2. Daffodils


3. Violets

As the year progresses, the following flowers are added when they became available (a handful of each, or as much as you like):

1. Borage


2. Broom


3. Chamomile


4. Elder


5. Honeysuckle


6. Jasmine


7. Lavender


8. Lily-of-the-valley


9. Marjoram


10. St. John’s Wort


11. Thyme


12. Viper’s Bugloss


13. Wall-flowers

With all of these added, stands the brew for nine more days (the symbolism of nine is prevalent here, as nine symbolised the completion of a cycle) and after which, distil the liquid to yield two quarts (Four Pints) of aromatic spirits. The aromatic spirits is the Divine Cordial we are looking for.

The cordial smells divinely and provides a medicine very useful to the body and the book puts it, it is far better than the elixir of life once brewed by a renowned herbalist, Paracelsus (more about this later on).

So, I’ve imparted this knowledge unto you, and it is up to you all aspiring herbalists to make it known to all… Let us expand the horizon of Herbalism! Haha