Infusions with Nourishing Herbs

Infusions are made in the same manner as you would make a cup of tea, with a few exceptions.

With a cup of tea you add your dried herb/herbs to hot water and allow to steep for 5-10 minutes, strain, find a comfy chair and enjoy those medicinal benefits right away.
 
With an infusion you are using a larger amount of your herb/herbs and the steeping time is anywhere from 2 to 10 hours. The purpose of drinking an herbal infusion is for the abundant amount of vitamins and minerals. (think of it as a liquid vitamin) 💪
 
Making an infusion is very easy. Place 1 ounce, by weight, of dried herb/herbs in a glass quart jar. Fill to the top with boiling water, cover and allow to steep at room temperature for 2-10 hours. Strain and drink by the cupful, warm or cold, throughout the day. Be sure to keep the remainder in the refrigerator and to use up within 36 hours. 

 
If you find the taste to be too strong you can try using 1/2 ounce of your herb and slowly increase up to that 1 ounce. You can add a touch of honey or maybe a slice of lemon. 

You can create a different infusion per week. You can use a single herb or add several together. I always recommend to become familiar with the different vitamin/mineral profile of each herb/herbs before deciding on what herbs to use to create your own infusion, based on;

your daily diet
how is your current health? What vitamins and minerals is your body telling you it needs?
any possible herb / drug interactions

Below is a list of some of my favorite nourishing herbs to use. There are of course more one could add to this. Be sure to keep in mind that pungent herbs are not as suitable for long infusions as the taste would be very strong and unpleasant. 

As with using any herbal, be sure to check for drug interactions and or cautions for pregnant and or nursing mothers.

chickweed - Stellaria media
dandelion leaves - Taraxacum officinale
hawthorn berries, leaves and flowers 
hibiscus
mullein - Verbascum thapsus
nettle leaf- Urtica dioica
oat straw
raspberry leaf 
red clover flowers -Trifolium pratense 
rose petal
rose of sharon - Hibiscus syriacus
violet leaves - Viola sororia

Herbal Tea Making Tips

I promised you some more herbal tea making information. If you have additional questions, let me know.

Why Make Herbal Teas

Many of us use them. We love to grow and harvest our own tea and then consume the wonderful, healthy beverages as we sit and enjoy their flavors or think about their health giving benefits.

They have important advantages

• Inexpensive

• Easy to make

• Imposes a ceremonial process and rest time for individuals.

• Allows the person to take a larger part in their healing process. 

•  It is self-empowering to be more self sufficient.

 They also have some disadvantages

• Dry herb only last for one year - roots and seeds may last a little longer.

• They are bulky.

• Takes time to make them.

• Teas have to be stored in the refrigerator and can only store for 48 hours or if you want to push it up to 3 days.

• If they taste bad, there is a lot to drink.

• Some herbs will not extract well. An example would be resinous herbs.

What To Do With A Formula That Has A Mix of Herbs Needing Decocting & Infusing

What do you do when you want to prepare a tea of many different herbs and some need to be decocted and some infused? In this situation when the formula is being prepared, put the dried herbs into two containers. One container that holds the herbs to be decocted and another container that holds the herbs to be infused.

When putting your formula together make enough to last you for the time period you expect to be drinking these herbs. If you will be ingesting them long term, make up enough to last as long as you wish. Start by making one container of herbs to decoct and one container to infuse. Put all the hard, dense plant parts such as barks, roots, and some seeds into the container that will be decocted. Then put all the delicate and less dense parts of the plant such as flowers and leaves into another container that will be infused. The herbs to be decocted are made up first. When they are finished decocting take the pot off the burner and add the herbs to be infused into the pot. In both cases make sure the lid to the pot is on tight.  Let it steep for the necessary time and strain it all.

Straining Teas

When you strain your teas, pick up the herb in your strainer and squeeze all the liquid out of the herb material. Some of the best stuff is still in the herbs and you don’t want to throw it into your compost before squeezing it out.

Using Ground Herb Vs Cut & Sift Herb

Usually "cut and sift" herb is used for teas. If you grind the herb up into a powder it will extract well but be sure to use cheese cloth or a coffee filter to filter the tea as you pour it into your cup. I also suggest squeezing the powdered herb real well as those small powder particles will want to hold onto a lot of that herbal liquid. You want to squeeze out every drop you can as it is holding the most potent part of your tea. You could designate a special thin tea towel for the task or have cheese cloth just for this use. That will allow you to reuse the material after washing it. Powdered material will cling to more water than the cut and sift herbs and you will get less final amount of liquid tea when you use powdered herb. This is the reason most people use cut and sift rather than powder to make teas.

When to Infuse Seeds and Roots (They are usually decocted)

Delicate seeds or roots as well as seeds or roots with volatile oils need to be infused. If you are making a root or seed decoction and it does not work as you expect it should, make sure it does not have volatile oils in it that require you to infuse it rather than decoct it. Examples of where this might be important is with archangelica root, dong quai root and elecampane root.

If infusing hard seeds and roots you  may need to pulverize them a bit with a mortar and pestle to break them up into small enough particles to extract all their goodness from within. If you don’t have a mortar and pestle, you can put them in a bag and roll over them with a rolling pin. If they are too hard to break that way, double bag them and get out a rubber mallet or even a hammer. Put the bag on your cutting board and break them up by banging on them. I often save old bags that are not good for other things for this very purpose. I break up nuts and all sorts of things this way. Even a pot with a real thick bottom can be used to break up seeds or roots. Just be careful not to hurt your cookware.

Tight Lids & Volatile Oils

When making a tea by decocting it in a pot, make sure the lid to the pot fits well. When infusing herbs in a container such as a canning jar, make sure the jar lid is on tight enough not to loose vapors into the air. This is especially important when you are making tea from  a plant with a lot of volatile oils. Those oils are important and you don't want to loose them into the air. If you open the jar or pot before it has cooled slightly you will loose all your precious essential oils as they volatilize into the air. So even if the tea has steeped long enough, you may need to wait to open the jar lid until the tea changes from hot to the touch to warm to the touch.

How to Make An Herbal Tea Taste Good

What if the tea tastes bad? You have other choices than using it as a tea. However, if you want to use the herb as a tea, try adding other flavors to it that taste good. 

•Adding lemon and honey is a solution that makes many teas taste better.  

•Using additional herbs in the mixture that are added only for flavor is another choice. 

• Infusing dried berries such as raspberry, apple, blueberry or even raisins with the herbs while making the tea lends to some wonderful flavors.  

•Essential oils are an additional alternative. You probably have some herbal essential oils in your kitchen that you use in cooking. Look in the pantry. Try anise or peppermint or whatever is there that you think might work for you. It is good to add an essential oil that will have an additive effect to the health benefits of the other herbs in the cup of tea. When adding essential oils, don’t add more than 1-2 drops to a cup or you will be overwhelmed. Put one drop at a time in, stir well and taste. Don’t taste without stirring as the essential oil will still be on the top of the cup and you will get it all in one sip.  
If you can't find essential oils in your area, Floracopia Products has a 25% discount available for my readers. It is for new customers only at the above link if you use the code "wiseacres".

•With kids I have had parents use the fruit infusions mentioned above or mix the tea with a non-sweetened fruit juice. Most kids will take it with dark grape juice if nothing else works as it often hides other flavors.

Making Herbal Tea

Herbal teas are inexpensive, easy to make and they impose a ceremonial process during their preparation as well as a rest time while drinking them.

Tools To Make Teas

If you have something to cook water in and a canning jar, you have all the tools you need. Some other useful items are a Kettle, Teapot, French Press, and Mug. Be sure your tools are glass, stainless steel or enamel. You don’t want to use a container that might react with the herbs. 

Safety
Only make teas with herbs that are safe to drink.

Types of Tea Preparations

Teas are divided into two basic types of tea preparations. The infusion and decoction. Depending on what you want to extract from the herb and how dense the herb is will depend on which type of preparation you use.

When To Choose An Infusion 

Infusions are used for extraction of labile constituents such as vitamins, enzymes and volatile oils. They are also used for delicate and less dense parts of the plant such as flowers and leaves. Some seeds are also infused as well as roots with volatile oils such as elecampane or valerian.

When To Choose A Decoction

Decoctions are used for plant constituents that require more time and heat for extraction, such as mineral salts, bitter constituents and hard, dense plant parts such as barks, roots, and some seeds.

Infusions

How to Make An Infusion

An infusion is a gentle method to extract constituents from the herb. When making an infusion, the plant material is cut small, torn up or bruised to release its essence. The idea is to get as many parts of the plant in contact with the water as possible. If you have bought "cut & sift" herb from someone else, it is probably already cut up for use in an infusion.

Example of timing and how it changes the ultimate preparation

If you infuse an herb like chamomile the essential oil will be released quickly and taste and smell divine if drank within a few minutes. However, if you want the bitter constituents in chamomile which often we do if using it medicinally, you want to infuse it longer. The longer you infuse it the more bitter it will get.

Directions for one cup of infusion

Three recommended methods:

(a)     Add one cup of boiling water to one heaping tablespoon of dry herb or three heaping tablespoons of fresh herb in an air-tight container like a canning jar. Let it steep for 10-25 minutes.

(b)   Bring one cup of water to boil in a stainless steel or glass kettle. Remove the kettle from the burner and add one heaping tablespoon of the dry herb or three heaping tablespoons of fresh herb to the water. Cover the kettle with a tight fitting lid.  Steep for 10-25 minutes. Remove the lid, strain and drink the liquid. 

(c)  Put one heaping tablespoon of dry herb or three heaping tablespoons of fresh herb in a pint canning jar. Pour one cup of boiling water over the herb and put the lid on the canning jar. Let it sit overnight and drink the next morning. This method is often used for extracting minerals. When I am attempting to extract minerals I put extra herb in my jar. I often put a handful in and fill the quart jar with water. Most mineral rich herbs are food herbs such as oats and drinking strong teas is okay. If you use herbs in large amounts, make sure they are safe herbs to consume in quantities.
 
(d)  Put one heaping tablespoon of dry herb or three heaping   tablespoons of fresh herb in a pint canning jar. Pour one cup of room temp or cool water over the herb and put the lid on the canning jar. Let it sit overnight and drink the next morning. This will make a very mild infusion and picks up small amounts of volatile oils and energetic essences of the plant. Often this method is used for full moon infusions.

These infusions can be consumed hot or cold, depending on the specific usage. Large quantities can be made and stored in the refrigerator. Do not store tea for longer than 3 days because it may grow mold.

Solar Infusion

This type of infusion relies on the sun to provide heat to draw out constituents.  You put your herb into a canning jar. Then add clean spring water, well water or filtered water using the same amounts as listed above. (1 T per cup water if dry or 3 T per cup water if fresh.) Simply multiple the herb and water depending on how much tea you want to end up with.  You put the herb in the jar. Pour cold water over the herb, tighten the lid on the jar and put the jar in the direct sun. I often make sun tea in gallon canning jars when I have friends visit.

Lunar Infusion

Lunar infusions are wonderful for certain herbs. I place the herb in the jar and pour cold rather than hot water over the herb and place it under the moon at night. Usually I do this when the moon is full. It is especially nice for herbs with volatile oils. I do notice quite a difference when it is hot at night as compared to when it cools down. The heat of course does much of the extraction. When cool out at night, I get just the bare essence of the plant. I have to be sure to retrieve it before the sun is up. It is lovely and somewhat magical with certain plants. I suggest you try this with something like peppermint. Although I have used them medicinally for people, I usually don’t as I generally want the full range of constituents I can get from a hot extraction when I am using a tea medicinally.

Decoctions

How to Make A Decoction

In a kettle, bring one cup of water and one tablespoon of dry herb or three heaping tablespoons of fresh herb to a boil. Cover the kettle with a tight fitting lid, and simmer the ingredients for 15 - 25 minutes. Remove the kettle from the burner and steep ten minutes. Strain and drink.

Examples of when to choose an infusion or decoction

 If you are trying to extract minerals from an herb like nettles you can either use a hot water infusion overnight or you can decoct it for 25 minutes. They will both give you a similar amount of minerals. (I have made both up and sent it to a lab for testing.The decoction gave a tad bit more but not enough to matter.) However, the overnight infused one in my opinion usually tastes better. I am more likely to drink something that tastes good, so guess which one I will make. Usually, leafy herbs like nettles are not decocted and the only time I would decoct them is if I want to extract something like minerals and don't have the time for a 12 hour infusion.

Roots are generally decocted as they are dense and hard. However, if you are decocting a root with volatile oils such as valerian or elecampane you will want to infuse the root so you do not loose the essential oils. To make sure you extract it completely, you can cut up or pulverize the root into small pieces so the water can get into more parts of the root for a better extraction. You don't want a powder, you just want it mashed up or cut small.

Drinking the Tea

Ahhhh, now for the relaxing part.

The amount of tea you ingest will depend on if you are ingesting it for pleasure,  or health. It will also make a difference if using it for health reasons,  why you are using it. It is impossible to give a specific amount to drink, but since I know you want a guideline, I would tell you that  ½ - 1 cup three to five times a day will usually be the range. Some herbs need to be taken in very small amounts to work. For instance if you are using a bitter to stimulate digestion, you only need a few sips of a strong tea for it to help. Acute conditions usually require more of a tea and it is usually taken more often than chronic conditions. Some herbs should only be taken in small amounts as they are can be irritating if taken in large amounts of too often. It is important to always know what you are ingesting before ingesting it.

More On Teas In The Next Blog

There is so much to tell you about teas. What do you do when you want to prepare a formula of 6 different herbs and some need to be decocted and some infused?  How do you make bad tasting teas taste better? What are the advantages and disadvantages of herbal teas. This and more will be awaiting us in a soon to come blog. If you have a question about teas, let me know so you can see the answer in the next tea blog. In fact, if you have any questions about herbs, please speak up so you can get an answer in a future herb blog.