Our Kids Love this Medicine Juice !
Every morning in our house, somewhere between breakfast and getting out the door for school, we make "medicine juice.", which started as a way to get extracts into our kids without a daily negotiation. Over the years, it's become one of the more reliable parts of our routine; the kids ask for it now, and eagerly gulp it down most days.
Alcohol has a bite, and mushroom extracts aren't exactly sweet. Mixed into a little warm honey water and juice, though, they mostly disappear.
How we make it
the basics:
a teaspoon of honey stirred into a few ounces of hot water until it dissolves
a dropper each of our Reishi + Elderberry, Immunity, and Lion's Mane tinctures, and
two or three tablespoons of elderberry juice, or whatever other juice happens to be open in the fridge.
The juice brings it down to a drinkable temperature, and the whole thing ends up tasting something like a warm, slightly tart cider. The hot water is doing more than dissolving the honey. Some of the alcohol in the tinctures evaporates off, which softens the flavor.
What goes in the cup
Reishi + Elderberry. Reishi pair it with elderberries from our own farm, which have a long history of traditional use through cold and flu season, and which do a good job of rounding out reishi's bitterness.
Immunity. Our Immunity blend is what we lean on most from fall through early spring, when school brings home a steady stream of whatever is going around.
Lion's Mane. Lion's mane has been traditionally used to support the brain and nervous system, and research is still exploring how that works. For kids in school all day, it feels like a good fit for the morning cup.
Elderberry juice. Pressed from the same elderberries, and the base that makes the rest of it taste good. When we're out, apple cider or tart cherry juice work just as well. Use whatever is local and easy for you!
A few things worth knowing
Honey isn't considered safe for babies under one year old, since it can carry botulism spores an infant's gut can't yet handle, so for little ones skip it entirely.
Our tinctures are alcohol and water extractions. A dropper holds about a mL of tincture, so the alcohol in each one is a fraction of that, and some of it steams off in the hot water. It's a small amount, but it isn't zero, and we'd rather parents know that up front. Letting the cup sit a minute or two before adding the juice lets a little more of it go.
One dropper of each is what works for our kids. For younger children, half a dropper is a reasonable place to start, and if your child has a health condition or takes any medication, check with your pediatrician before adding something new.
Elderberries are always cooked or extracted, both in our juice and in our tinctures.
Why it sticks
We’ve shared in other posts that consistency beats dose with extracts, and medicine juice is probably the clearest example of that in our own house. None of it is complicated, and none of it is measured, but it happens nearly every morning.
Use whatever juice your kids will actually drink, let them make it their own, and it tends to take care of itself.
Our Reishi + Elderberry, Immunity, and Lion's Mane tinctures, along with elderberry juice, are at our market table in Ithaca and at wellspringforestfarm.com/shop. If you try this at home, we'd love to hear what your kids end up calling it.
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This powerful bundle brings together three of our most trusted, farm-grown tinctures to support your cognition, immunity, and overall vitality. Crafted with care from mushrooms and elderberries we grow and forage ourselves, each tincture is a concentrated expression of the land.
Lion’s Mane – For mental clarity, memory, and long-term brain support.
Shiitake, Oyster & Turkey Tail – A synergistic blend to strengthen immune function and gut health.
Reishi+ Elderberry – Antioxidant-rich and traditionally used to ward off seasonal illness and inflammation.
Together, they offer daily resilience from root to crown—mind, body, and spirit.
100% farm-grown & wildcrafted | Dual-extracted | Alcohol-based | Small-batch
These statements has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. By FDA regulations it is considered a nutritional supplement.