I used to use echinacea purpurea tincture. You can get it in glycerine if you need to avoid alcohol tinctures. However it often is paired with goldenseal. Some swear by goldenseal, but personally I haven't tried it, as it's a "blood purifier" and I wasn't sure what that meant, or whether it would affect my BP or heart rate. I used to work at Icky's TeaHaus, which had a lot of herbal teas. Though I'm not really an herbalist (and nothing anyone posts here, unless they are a medical professional, should be mistaken for medical advice), here are some things that worked well:
Lemon-ginger tea with honey (I make this at home with fresh lemons; if fresh ginger is too strong for you, add some crystalized-sugar-coated ginger candy instead.)
Marshmallow root-mucilaginous-coats throats
Throat Coat tea is pretty good
Slippery elm bark also soothes throats
Mint teas with honey can be nice (I prefer spearmint as it is cooling)
You can bathe in chamomile flowers, it's relaxing