Homemade Sore Throat Gargle

It's cold season and our house has been hit this week.  I pulled out one of my favorite books (The Healing Home Spa by Valerie Gennari Cooksley - no longer in print, but can be bought used on amazon), and made one of her sore throat gargles, with a few little changes.  I really liked that it has apple cider vinegar in it, as it can help kill the bacteria that cause sore throats.

Here is her recipe:

*1 cup sage herbal tea or hot water (I did a strong sage tea, using 2 tsp of sage in the cup of water and let it sit for about 30 minutes until it cooled to lukewarm)
*1T fresh lemon juice (I used 1 drop of lemon essential oil instead)
*1T apple cider vinegar (I used Braggs raw apple cider vinegar)
*2 drops geranium essential oil (I used one drop, since I had used the lemon essential oil)
*1 drop ginger essential oil
*1 tsp raw honey or sage honey

I combined the essential oils first in a little jar, then added the remaining ingredients, making sure the sage tea was cool enough so it would not kill the beneficial bacteria in the honey or apple cider vinegar.  I would use this gargle 2-3 times a day.