HERBAL TEAS, INFUSIONS, & DECOCTIONS

 

Tea

1. a hot drink made by infusing the dried, crushed leaves of the tea plant (Camillia sinensis) in boiling water. Only white, green, oolong, and black are true tea. All from an equivalent plant~just different levels of oxidation and processing.
2. the evergreen shrub or small tree that produces tea leaves, native to South andeastern Asia and grown as a serious crop .

Tisane

an blend of herbs, spices, and/or fruits prepared as a tea, consumed especially for its medicinal properties.

Infusion

a large amount of herb brewed for an extended time. Or the act of steeping material in water (hot or cold).

Decoction

hardy material (roots, barks, berries) prepared by boiling the material and reduce liquid by 1⁄2.

Did you recognize that once you are saying that you simply are drinking ‘tea’, and there isn’t actually tea leaves within the blend, you're actually drinking a tisane? For the sake of simplicity; however, we tend to ask all herbal beverages as teas. For our purposes, teas are steeped or brewed for brief periods of your time (3-15 minutes), and infusions are steeped for a minimum of 45 minutes up to eight hours.

Drinking herbal teas (tisanes!) are an excellent thanks to relax, enjoy the instant , and enjoy antioxidants, vitamins, flavonoids, minerals, and other healing properties of the herbs. an enormous a part of drinking tea is that the process. it's a practice in being mindful, slowing your pace, and acting with intention.

When you are stressed, it's quite easy to grab a skullcap tincture, take a couple of droppers and move along side your day. Which is great! But sometimes, you would like to prevent . Breathe. enter the kitchen. Fill your kettle with fresh filtered water. activate the warmth , and let it boil. While the water is heating up, measure a couple of tablespoons into your cup, jar, tea bag, or infuser. The kettle whistles. Pour the boiling water over your herbs.

Stir during a teaspoon of honey, syrup , lemon, sugar, cream-whatever you wish to feature to your tea. Wait just a couple of minutes, and strain out the leaves. Hold you tea in both hands, inhale the earthy aroma, and take that first sip. Ahhhh. the method is vital . Build a ritual around it. Make drinking teas a neighborhood of your healthy lifestyle habits. Start your children YOUNG, in order that they don’t eschew them until they're adults.

Herbal infusions, on the opposite hand, are a nutritional powerhouse. you'll replace your daily multivitamins with daily herbal infusions. a extended steeping time really extracts the utmost potential from the plants. Take nettles for instance . A cup of nettle tea steeped for five minutes has about 35 mg of calcium. An infusion steeped for 4 hours-350 mg.

How to brew an infusion: Place one ounce of your herb during a clean quart sized canning jar. refill with boiling water and cap tightly. Let steep for 4-8 hours. Strain. Compost! Sip on your infusion throughout the day. Refrigerate what's left and finish within 24-36 hours.

A few notes about infusions: Bitter herbs don't add infusions. Chamomile, lavender, yarrow, mints, etc. will produce a particularly bitter flavor if steeped for quite a couple of minutes. Some great choices are: Stinging nettles, oatstraw (my personal favorite), comfrey, mullein, linden flower, burdock root, raspberry leaf, purple clover , elderberry, rose hips, elder flower, marshmallow root, chickweed, and violet leaf.

Susun Weed advises to infuse herbs singularly. you recognize what you're consuming (especially if there's a reaction) and you develop a more intimate relationship with the plant. For daily use, i prefer this concept . However, if I’m feeling under the weather, i will be able to mix it up a touch . My favorite infusion for having a chilly is nettles, oatstraw, elderberries, rosehips, and mullein. many vitamins, minerals, immunity, and respiratory support.

Simples vs. Formulas

~Simples-Specificity, Quality, Intimacy. Especially once you are just starting to build a relationship with herbs and herbal medicine, it's suggested and encouraged to start out with one herb at a time. Make a cup of chamomile tea. Make an oat straw infusion. Make a burdock root decoction. Work thereupon singular herb for a period of your time . Really get to understand it.

~Formulas-Subtlety and Synergy. After you’ve build alittle knowledge domain of varied single plants, you'll begin to maneuver towards creating simple formulas.

Synergy Triangle for Blending Herbal Teas

So, you're eager to make a mix to support a healthy body function, like say, digestion. After you’ve worked with a couple of herbs by themselves you would like to undertake out a couple of together and see how that works. Your first thought could be to require all the herbs that you simply know that are good for digestion and blend them together. that's just overkill-they aren’t working together that way. So, as you'll have guessed, there are 3 parts to the Synergy Triangle. 1) the active ingredient. For digestion let’s pick dandelion leaf. 2) the supportive ingredient. Marshmallow root may be a good one. It’s nice and soothing for your gastrointestinal system . 3) the catalyst. this may provide you with some flavor and makes the tea stronger . Here we will accompany either ginger, fennel, or peppermint.

Once you've got your herbs chosen, you've got to form sure that you simply have the right ratios. A general guideline is 3:2:1. you'll then make adjustments supported your personal needs.

**Note, during these medicine making lessons, we aren’t getting to enter specific herbal profiles just yet. this is often just a pleasant overview about the the way to create your medicines. i will be able to begin to feature a monthly herbal profile to the web site and you'll also take a glance at various herbal books and websites within the meantime to research properties of herbs that you simply wish to figure with.