Herbal preparations Internal use

Powdered herbs

How herbs have been prepared at home for generations.

Powdered herbs are the whole dried plant, milled fine, so nothing is extracted and nothing is left behind. They are the most direct way to take a herb: stirred into a smoothie, folded through food, mixed into a glass of water, or taken straight from the spoon. We rarely suggest capsules. Herbal traditions, Ayurveda among them, hold that a herb's taste is part of how it works, and that meeting a herb's bitterness on the tongue is where the body begins to make use of it. Bitter is a signal, not a flaw. That said, some people find certain herbs hard to take, so we stock empty capsules for anyone who prefers to fill their own.

Method

In a smoothie or food

Add one teaspoon of powder to a smoothie, porridge, yoghurt or a dressing and blend or stir it through. Cacao, maca, matcha and the mushroom powders take to this especially well.

In water

Mix one teaspoon to a smooth paste with a little hot water or honey in the bottom of a glass, then top up with water, hot or cold, and stir. The paste stops the powder clumping.
A teaspoon can also be taken straight from the spoon and followed with a glass of water.

In capsules, for those who prefer them

Spread the powder on a plate and pull an empty capsule apart.
Push the two halves towards each other through the powder until each is full, then close. Four capsules hold roughly one teaspoon of herb.
Capsules bypass the taste, which is their point and also their cost: the herb is not met in the mouth, and is slower to assimilate than one taken with hot water.

Meet the herbs

Matcha

Stone-ground Japanese green tea, vivid and savoury.
Full Matcha Profile

From the Botanical Journal

The Magic of Matcha: Ancient Roots, Rituals and Health Benefits
Read the journal

All journals

Recipes with these herbs

All recipes

Powdered herbs

Method

Meet the herbs

Matcha

From the Botanical Journal

The Magic of Matcha: Ancient Roots, Rituals and Health Benefits

Recipes with these herbs

Ceremonial Matcha

Matcha Latté

Microbiome Boost Latté