Osha root candy is a sweet made with the root of Ligusticum porteri, the mountain plant also called bear root and, in New Mexico, chuchupate. Most of it comes from small herb shops and honey makers, and it takes two forms. One is pieces of dried root sealed in raw honey until they turn soft and sticky. The other is a boiled sugar drop flavoured with osha. People look for it because they want the taste of osha in something they can keep in a pocket or a glovebox. A dropper bottle of extract does that job with no sugar at all.
What is osha root candy?
The honey kind is the one you see most. Listings from Arizona to Colorado describe it in two ingredients. One Arizona shop sells "Raw Arizona Honey & Wild Ethically Harvested Osha Root" and nothing else. A Santa Fe honey company sells New Mexico raw honey infused with New Mexico osha root. Etsy sellers list jars of "Candied Osha", one of them labelled Extra Strong.
Osha hard candy is the second kind. A hard candy starts as a syrup of sugar (sucrose, glucose or fructose) heated to 160 °C (320 °F). Flavouring, such as a plant extract, goes in after the heat comes off, then the syrup is poured, cooled and shaped until it sets stiff and brittle with almost no water left in it. Osha root drops are this kind of sweet, with osha as the flavour.
Where osha candy comes from
Pairing a bitter root with a sweet base is old apothecary practice. Many apothecaries used sugar candy to make their remedies easier to take, and the earliest throat sweets were honey with herbs and spices mixed in. Hard candy and the cough drop grew up side by side.
Osha's own sweet traditions sit in New Mexico. Hispanic ranchers there call the plant chuchupate, and Hispanic families in New Mexico have a long history with the root, according to the University of Kansas native plants program, citing the herbalist Michael Moore. The same source notes that every place name containing the word Oshá is in New Mexico, close to Hispanic communities. Families brewed chuchupate tea for sore throats, and they flavoured meat, beans and chile with the leaves, seeds and roots. In Ranchos de Taos, herb makers still sell osha syrup made with raw wildflower honey from root gathered in the mountains of Northern New Mexico. Shops that sell osha candy today still sell it as a throat sweet, and one herbalist's candied osha recipe describes the honey as softening and moistening the throat.
The root has older company too. The Rarámuri of Northern Mexico call it wasía, the Lakota call it mato tapejuta (bear medicine), and the story most people know is that bears dig the root when they wake from hibernation and chew it.
Osha stopped more than half the growth of the TB bacterium at the lowest concentration tested.
What osha hard candy tastes like
Sugar and honey sit on top of a strong flavour. One apothecary blog calls the root strong and bitter, with "quite the pungent smell", and says honey softens it. Botanists reach for kitchen herbs. The University of Kansas page quotes "a pungent cross of flavors reminiscent of celery and licorice" (Terrell and Fennell, 2009) and a "chervil-celery-parsley flavor" (Turi and Murch, 2010). Wikipedia's entry gives the root a smell close to butterscotch and celery.
In a candy, sweetness arrives first, then the celery note, then a long bitter finish as the sweet melts. How much of the osha you taste depends on the maker. Some drops taste mostly of honey. Others, like the jars labelled Extra Strong, lead with the root.
How much root is in a sweet?
There is no standard. The candy listings we read state their ingredients (honey, sugar, root) and none of them give an amount of osha per piece. A hard candy is mostly sugar by weight, because the syrup is cooked down until almost no water is left. A honey jar is mostly honey, with root pieces through it.
An extract is measured. Bear Root's label gives a daily amount (1 to 2 droppers) and a bottle size (50 ml), so every dropper is the same strength as the one before it. With a candy you can't count how much root you are taking. With an extract you can.
Osha candy vs tincture
Both give you the taste of osha in a form you can carry. The tincture is the one we make and the one we'd pick, for these reasons:
- No sugar. The ingredients read "Simple ingredients: premium quality extract."
- The full taste of the root: earthy and warming, with the sharp, celery-like bite that honey and sugar cover up.
- A set amount. 1 to 2 droppers a day, the same each time.
- It keeps. A capped dropper bottle doesn't leak honey or go sticky in a bag, and a 50 ml bottle lasts 30 to 50 days.
If you want to compare bottles before you buy one, our guide to choosing the best osha root tincture covers what to read on the label.
Bear Root – Osha Root Tincture
50 ml dropper bottle. Ligusticum porteri from the mountains of Northern Mexico.
Add to bagWhere a dropper fits in the day
Bear Root is osha from a mountain plant of Northern Mexico, made as a tincture (an alcohol extract). The 50 ml bottle goes where a bag of drops would go: a jacket pocket, a day pack, a desk drawer.
- Under the tongue. Hold 1 to 2 droppers there for 20 to 30 seconds, then swallow.
- In a water bottle after a hike or a run, where the celery note comes through clean.
- In a morning or evening tea, any time of year.
- In juice or a smoothie, if you want the bite softer.
Stir a dropper into honey at home
If you miss the sweet, make your own at the table. Put a spoonful of honey in a small dish, stir a dropper of Bear Root through it and eat it off the spoon or spread it on toast. You get the honey first and the root right behind it, and you decide how much osha goes in, which no candy jar lets you do.
Dark glass keeps the extract
An extract keeps best away from light. If you're buying any osha tincture, dark amber glass is a step in the right direction. The gold standard is dark Miron glass, which is what Bear Root comes in. For the plant itself, from its altitude range to its names, read our complete guide to osha root.
Bear Root considerations
Contains alcohol. Not recommended during pregnancy. If you're nursing or taking medication, ask your doctor before using it.
Questions people ask
What is osha candy made of?
Usually osha root and honey, or a boiled sugar syrup flavoured with osha. The honey kind is dried root pieces left in raw honey until they soften.
What does osha root candy taste like?
Sweet first, then a celery and licorice note, then a bitter finish from the root. Stronger candies lead with the root.
Is osha candy the same as osha root drops?
Mostly yes. Shops use candy, drops and lozenges for the same boiled sweet flavoured with osha.
Can I add osha tincture to honey?
Yes. Stir a dropper of Bear Root into a spoonful of honey and eat it straight or on toast.