Panela with lime - hot, natural drink - Colombian cold remedy

Panela and Lime

Today I learned how to prepare a hot, natural Colombian drink that Colombians recommend for soothing an irritated throat, such as when you have a cold. To get started, you need the following ingredients: 3 cubes of panela per serving (for convenience/ease of use, I suggest buying the panela in pre-cut cubes, such as from the brand "Doña Panela"; "panela" is dehydrated sugar cane juice), 1 fresh lime per serving, 1 cup of water per serving, and honey (optional).

First, put the water into a pot (1 cup per serving). Next, add the panela cubes (3 cubes of panela per serving) to the pot with the water. Next, rinse the fresh lime as you would do prior to consuming any fresh fruit. Next, slice the fresh lime (1 fresh lime per serving) and thoroughly squeeze the lime juice from the fresh lime into the pot that already contains the water and panela. Turn on the stove and bring the water to a full boil for a minute or so. Pour your hot drink into a cup or cups, let it cool down enough to drink comfortably, and enjoy. Your hot drink should be about the same color as the panela cubes were in the package prior to using, a deep brown or café color.

I haven’t yet added honey, so not yet sure if the honey should be added before boiling or after pouring the hot drink into a cup. Also, as I understand from native Colombians, Colombians either discard the fresh lime skin after thoroughly squeezing the fresh lime into the water or they boil the fresh lime skin with the water and panela cubes. If you choose to boil the lime skin, just remove and discard the lime skin before pouring your hot drink. You can adjust the amount of water, panela and fresh lime to your liking. The proportions I shared in this recipe were those recommended to me by native Colombians.