Although this recipe is to celebrate Valentine’s Day, it can spice things up a bit any time of the year. This is a stimulating formula useful for erectile dysfunction. It is great for enhancing sexual arousal.

Ingredients:

• 1 ounce fresh cotton root bark (Gossypium spp.) tincture

• 1 ounce fresh oat seed (Avena spp.) tincture

• 1 ounce muira puama (Ptychopetalum olacoides)

• 1 ounce ho shou wu (Polygonim multiflorum)

• 1 ounce damiana (Turnera diffusa)

• 1 ounce maca (Lepidium meyenii)

• 1 vanilla bean (or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract) (Vanilla spp.)

• 1 teaspoon cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum)

• 2 tablespoons powdered chocolate

• 2 ½ cups (20 ounces) brandy

• honey or maple syrup to taste

Directions:

• Grind all herbs together in a blender to release their aromatic and medicinal properties.

• Pour into a glass jar and add 20 ounces of brandy.

• Let sit for 1-3 weeks and then strain.

• Add 1-ounce cotton root bark tincture,1-ounce oat seed tincture, chocolate, and sweetener of choice and stir well. This elixir can be drunk straight (1 tablespoon–1 ounce) or added to a juice of your choosing.

© Elaine Sheff, Clinical Herbalist, RH (AHG)