How to Make an Herbal Tea

Have you ever wondered how to utilize those beautiful herbs that are sprouting in your herb garden? One of the easiest ways I have found is to make a flavorful tea. Loose teas are usually steeped in hot water: three to five minutes for leaves and flowers (this method is called infusion) or 15-20 minutes in a rolling boil for denser materials like roots and barks (called a decoction).

How to make Herbal Tea?

Infusions

Infusions are the simplest method of preparing an herb tea and both fresh and dried herbs, such as peppermint, chamomile, and rosehips, may be used. Due to the higher water content of the fresh herb, three parts fresh herb replace one part of the dried herb.

To make an infusion:

1. Put about one teaspoon of the dried herb or herb mixture for each cup of water into a teapot

2. Add boiling water and cover

3. Leave to steep for 5-10 minutes

Infusions may be taken hot, cold, or iced. They may also be sweetened. Honey and stevia are great natural sweeteners.

Infusions are most appropriate for plant parts such as leaves, flowers, or green stems where the medicinal properties are easily accessible. To infuse bark, root, seeds, or resin, it is best to powder them first to break down their cell walls before adding them to the water. Seeds like fennel and anise should be slightly bruised to release the volatile oils from the cells.

Any aromatic herb should be infused in a pot that has a tight-sealing lid to reduce loss of the-volatile oil through evaporation.

How to make Herbal Tea?

Decoction

For hard and woody herbs, ginger root and cinnamon bark, it is best to make a decoction rather than an infusion, to ensure that the soluble contents of the herb actually reach the water. Roots, wood, bark, nuts, and certain seeds are hard and their cell walls are very strong, requiring more heat than in an infusion. These herbs need to be boiled in the water.

To make a decoction:

1. Put one teaspoon of dried herb or three teaspoons of fresh material for each cup of water into a pot or saucepan

2. Dried herbs should be powdered or broken into small pieces, while fresh material should be cut into small pieces

3. Add the appropriate amount of water to the herbs, bring to a boil, and simmer for 10-15 minutes

When using a woody herb that contains a lot of volatile oil, it is best to make sure that it is powdered as finely as possible and then used in an infusion, to ensure that the volatile essential oils do not boil away. Decoctions can be consumed in the same way as an infusion.

Herbal teas are also an excellent product that can be sold as part of a cottage industry. If you want to learn more check out the series Starting a Cottage Industry.