One of my favorite lozenges as a kid were the Pine Bros honey flavor. They were mildly sweet but the firm and smooth glycerine texture was what made them positively addictive. I was disappointed with the reintroduction of Pine Bros, so I’ve been searching again to find something to fill that hole.
I first tried the Rescue Pastilles at ExpoWest in Anaheim earlier this year. They’re rather utilitarian looking from the outside of the tin. They promise little, just stating that they’re natural stress relief and free from alcohol.
I finally found them for sale at a local natural products store, Erewhon, up the street from my office. Rescue Pastilles: Elderflower & Orange were expensive, far more expensive than a simple pastille should be (though the tin is cool and certainly something I’ll keep). It was $8.29 for the tin that has only 50 pastilles and 1.7 ounces.
The tin smells herby upon opening it with a firm press to the center of the lid. It smells like thyme and green tea. The little pastilles are a little smaller than the diameter as a dime, about 2/3 of an inch.
The flavor is lightly sweet, a little like honey with a strong note of orange blossom and orange zest along with a more balsam note like rosemary. The dissolve is slow and the pieces are a bit gummy and soft like a glycerine lozenge.
They’re just lovely and quite refreshing. The dissolve is mellow, but doesn’t have the same slippery, throat coating abilities as some other pastilles, such as Grethers. There’s a light bitterness towards the end from the zest that turns into a pretty good breath freshening note that sticks with me. That doesn’t detract from the great texture and delicate, unique flavor. I don’t know if I’d buy these again, unless I had a wicked sore throat.
They’re made with gum arabic as a gelling agent, there is no gelatin in it. However, they’re not completely vegan since they use beeswax to keep them from sticking together. The package also states that they’re not suitable for animals.
Related Candies
- Pine Bros Softish Throat Drops
- Grether’s Pastilles Blackcurrant
- Perfetti Van Melle Golia
- Honees Honey Filled Drops
- Dr. Doolittle’s Pastilles (Lemon, Grapefruit & Wild Berry)
- Pastiglie Leone
Name: |
Rescue Pastilles |
RATING:
- SUPERB
- YUMMY
- TASTY
- WORTH IT
- TEMPTING
- PLEASANT
- BENIGN
- UNAPPEALING
- APPALLING
- INEDIBLE
|
Brand: |
Bach |
Place Purchased: |
Erewhon Grocery (Park LaBrea) |
Price: |
$8.29 |
Size: |
1.7 ounces |
Calories per ounce: |
|
Categories: |
All Natural, Candy, Jelly Candy, 8-Tasty, Switzerland |
My grandmother always had a little vial of Bach’s rescue remedy, which is lots of herbs in some sort of strong alcohol. You took a few drops on your tongue or in some water. And you could indeed give it to animals. perhaps the high price is because it’s sort-of considered medicine? It had the same calming affect as a few drops of alcohol.
I know here in the UK you can buy lots of different types of the dropper bottles, individual flowers so you can mix them together. and lip balm and things. I have a sore throat right now and I need to seek out a less sweet alternative to Jakeman’s and Potter’s so perhaps I should seek these out!
The cats’ vet always dosed them with Bach’s Rescue Remedy before an exam and suggested always keeping it on hand for stress and shock, could make a difference while dragging the critter in for emergency care. I even successfully turned off heat symptoms in two different cats by judicious dosing on the right schedule (which certainly made everybody else less stressed, if you’ve ever had the misfortune to be in a small space with a chirping kitty in heat). The vet said to mix just a few drops of the concentrate in a 1 or 2 oz dropper bottle of water, then just a drop popped into the cat’s mouth or smeared on its paw or lips or even the inside of its ear would work to reduce stress, although i used larger doses for the chirpy cats in heat. One formerly stray cat who was hiding all the time would stay out of hiding only if she got a drop every 12 hours. If I missed a dose - she would vanish until she got hungry enough to risk it. The vet said she used it on herself when things got really hectic at the clinic.
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