'Just got over a cold/flu ... so I made a questionable syrup:  

50% Honey and 50% Lemon 
.. and some of my wife's ginger 

(warmed via the microwave then stirred).

I did standard 'some' vocal warm-ups and ponder/conclude:


1) the medicine may have helped.
2) the honey-lemon syrup worked quickly (in seconds)
3) I had fewer problems with singing the register changes and scale exercises.
4) OTOH, I'm almost recovered from my cold ... and the vocals are sort-of 'unleashing' (bursting out spontaneously?) again.

What might you ponder and/or conclude about syrups and teas ... (+/- water) for instantiating vocals?  With or without a cold or cough?

Thanks in advance,

As rarely as I sing, I've noticed that green tea seems to have a positive effect on my throat. Maybe it's simply the warm water, relaxing it.

What I can tell you is that my wife says that switching from coffee w/ sugar to green tea w/ honey in the morning had a beneficial impact on her voice. She's currently singing and performing 10 shows a week. Coming from the lady spinning up side down at the end of a rope 40 feet above the stage while belting, I'm tempted to believe that there is something to it. ;)

She also has her own home-made medicine which is a mix of honey, lemon and ginger roots in warm water. I may be forgetting other ingredients, it's been a while since she had a cold.

Honey, lemon, whisky.... I've tried them all.... especially when I had a gig and needed to sing and had some sort of bug that affected the vocal cords......

Yeah... nothing really worked in a magical sort of way..... but the whisky made me care less about it and have a good time.

There is one semi-secret last resort solution among singers, when they MUST perform and their voice has given up on them - one which makes me glad not to be a vocalist.

I don't remember the actual name of the medication, but it has to be administered via the back end of your digestive tube. 

It works, but as a last resort. Don't expect to use it two days in a row, because you're essentially performing on the emergency tank when you really need to recover. It created quite a stir among my singer friends when they were taken off the market in Canada a few years ago. I think they're back now...

+1 to whiskey!

Brandy is even better.

But only a snootful right before a set. More than that and... well I don't wanna talk about it. lol

At one point I had some severe sinus infections going on and I had a regular gig as a vocalist. It felt like someone was punching me in the temple constantly. My doc gave me some nasal spray steroids that he had a bunch of samples of. That stuff was INTENSE. It really worked well but it was highly addictive. Found myself craving it after the infection went away.

Just thinking about it makes me want some.

:-/

I would put whisky in the lemon tea.

I find that  under normal circumstances, nothing helps the voice like a strong spirit. If I have a gig and my voice is feeling a bit under par, I'll down some neat liqueur the night before and this tends to help, particularly with low bassey notes.

For a blocked nose, I use Vicks. It doesn't work miracles but I haven't found anything better yet.

Ed. 

I used to find eating oranges very good when my throat was sore and I had to sing. That formed some kind of a protecting film in my throat.
Alcohol can be risky, because it actually damages the mucosa.
In general, the weak point of alcohol as a flu remedy is that it may make your sleep so deep that you snore (more than normally) and your nose gets stuffed. Snoring and not being able to breathe through your nose during the first two nights when the flu tries to attack guarantees the flu will get bad and really hit your respiratory tract.
My cure for flu is ibuprofen, garlic, vitamin-C and most importantly: Whatever it takes, keep you nose open. Aspirin, codein and those "traditional" ones  are not nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, thus they do nothing to inflammation.

Thanks Kalle, Ed, Herb, Rain, and Beepster,
Vicks, nasal steroids, whiskey in the lemon tea, green-tea, Brandy, and Rain's 'proven' warm-water-blend!

Such Excellent thoughts:  Remember ... its your best vox I'm concerned with.

'Just took 2 more table-spoons of lemon-honey-ginger syrup out of the fridge (after dinner).  That stuff packs a rush (not just to the taste buds)!  (Next time I should mix it with warm water) :)

Vicks, nasal steroids, whiskey in the lemon tea, green-tea, Brandy, and Rain's 'proven' warm-water-blend!

All at the same time... in a pitcher!

Stir well.

:-D