Commonwealth Podcast For Holistic Herbalism

This week’s herbs are orange peel & cinnamon. Each one has multiple varieties: sweet orange, bitter orange, cassia cinnamon, “true” cinnamon, etc.Citrus x aurantium and C. x sinensis are the bitter and sweet orange, respectively. Not just an excellent flavoring agent (although that counts for a lot!), citrus peel makes a nice gentle digestive bitter and is a classic in cocktail bitter blends. It’s great in mulled cider or wine, but also a nice cooling drink in the summertime. If you’ve only had citrus as juice – or, on the other end of the spectrum, orange oil as a cleaning product – we recommend drying your own organic citrus peels and working with them in tea!Cinnamomum cassia is sometimes just called cassia, or cassia cinnamon. C. verum is the “true” cinnamon, a bit sweeter and less astringent by comparison. Cinnamon is a great relaxant to the viscera and the lungs, one of our favorites in a wintertime blend for spasmodic coughs. It’s got an interesting relationship with water and can act as an astring