A strong, long infusion

A strong, long herbal infusion helps one slow down, take a breath & watch herbs dance in the water. It’s not exactly convenient… but it’s not hard at all?

An infusion is a method of making a water extract/tea by steeping aerial plant parts (flowers, leaves, stems [anything nonwoody]) in water. Think about using the more delicate plant parts with the infusion method. There are always exceptions to this approach! Infusions can be made with fresh or dry herbs and can be made hot with almost-boiling water or cold with room temperature water. The time to steep herbs also varies.

I like to make my infusions in the evening and reheat and drink them the following morning.

For hot dried herbal infusions, use 1 tsp to 1 tbsp of herb per cup of water. Sometimes I need more than a tbsp! All depends on the plant and your taste. A 20 minute infusion is going to give you “tea” where a 8 hour steep will be a strong medicinal brew. This is that good stuff!

For a hot fresh plant herbal infusion, start with roughly ¼ cup chopped herbs for 2 cups water. Steep for 30-60 minutes MINIMALLY .. or go overnight! and reheat to drink if desired. You need to use more plant material because fresh herbs introduce a lot of water into the cup already, so you will need to compensate a bit.

With hot infusions, I like to use water that is just below its boiling point. This protects certain sensitive constituents in the plant from evaporating or being broken down.

I always cover the vessel that I am making tea in. A lot of the aromatic essential oils can evaporate with the steam from the water, so it is best to keep it all contained while your brew is infusing. It will make your cup of tea much more medicinal!