Rose and Vanilla Honey Recipe

Rose and vanilla honey is a wonderful gift idea for someone you love. Containing ingredients known for their association with romance and love, this simple honey is sure to be a hit to the heart. 

Rose (Rosa spp.) is such a loving plant and is a wonderful addition to any love potions meant for others or just for yourself, such as this rose vanilla honey recipe. While not an aphrodisiac, rose is a beloved medicine for the heart. Roses are used to heal and open the energetic heart chakra, yielding a soft but strong heart that is open, yet protected. 

The Mayan and Aztec peoples were among the first cultures to use vanilla (Vanilla planifolia), which they often added to their cacao drinks (Lubinsky et al., 2008). The aphrodisiac qualities of vanilla are due to its aromatic constituents, which are said to act as a relaxant for anger, tension, irritability, and stress and have also been shown to improve blood flow to the nether regions (Hirsch & Gruss, 2014)! 

Eclectic herbalists of the early 1900s lauded vanilla as an aromatic stimulant, said to “promote wakefulness, increase muscular energy, and powerfully stimulate the sexual appetite” (Felter, 1922). It’s interesting that the Eclectics considered vanilla so stimulating and didn’t mention its dual action as a nervine. After drinking a cup of vanilla tea, one is bound to feel infinitely more relaxed, euphoric, and blissful. Perhaps this is part of its aphrodisiac effect as well — once vanilla calms stress and soothes tension, one is able to focus on other more sensual and pleasureful pursuits.

In Closing,

Consider making a Rose Infused Honey using the whole rosebud as a complement to this rose and vanilla recipe. There are many ways to infuse honey. Check out a few more recipes below: 

Herbal Honey Recipes for Kids
Sage Honey
Garlic Honey

REFERENCES 

Felter, Harvey Wickes. (1922). The eclectic materia medica, pharmacology and therapeutics. Retrieved from http://www.henriettes-herb.com/eclectic/felter/vanilla.html.

Herbal Academy. (2015). Love it up with herbal aphrodisiacs [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://theherbalacademy.com/love-it-up-with-herbal-aphrodisiacs/

Herbal Academy. (2020). An irresistible herbal aphrodisiac recipe for Valentine’s Day: Cleopatra’s love bites [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://theherbalacademy.com/herbal-aphrodisiac-recipes-cleopatras-love-bites/

Herbal Academy. (2014). Vanilla recipes: 3 ways to bliss [Blog post}. Retrieved from https://theherbalacademy.com/vanilla-recipes-three-ways/

Hirsch, A.R., & Gruss, J.J. (2014). Human male sexual response to olfactory stimuli. Retrieved from https://aanos.org/human-male-sexual-response-to-olfactory-stimuli/

Lubinsky, P., Bory, S., Hernández, J., Kim, S.C., & Gómez-Pompa, A. (2008). Origins and dispersal of cultivated vanilla (Vanilla planifolia Jacks. [Orchidaceae]). Economic Botany, 62(127). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12231-008-9014-y

Rose, K. (2007). Sweet Medicine: Healing with the Wild Heart of Rose [Website]. Retrieved from http://bearmedicineherbals.com/sweet-medicine-healing-with-the-wild-heart-of-rose.html

Wood, M. (2008). The earthwise herbal: A complete guide to old world medicinal plants. Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books.