Herbal preparations

How to prepare herbs

Eight ways herbs have been prepared at home for generations.

Most herbs can be prepared in a kitchen with a pot, a jar and a little patience. The methods below are the ones herbalists have passed on for generations: four for taking herbs internally, four for using them on the skin. Choose a method to read how it is done.

Infusion Internal

A herbal infusion is the simplest way to prepare a herb: hot water poured over leaves, flowers or other soft parts and left to steep, covered. It is the method behind every cup of herbal tea. Infusions suit the delicate parts of a plant, where the aromatic and water-soluble compounds release readily without long heat. Most of the single herbs and tea blends in our range are prepared this way.

Put one teaspoon of dried herb per cup into a teapot, or any glass, ceramic or stainless steel vessel.
Pour over one cup of water just off the boil for each teaspoon of herb.
Cover and leave to steep for around ten minutes. Covering keeps the aromatic oils in the cup rather than in the air.
Strain and drink while hot, or let it cool for an iced infusion.
A serve is usually one cup, up to three times a day. Each herb's profile gives its usual amount.

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Decoction Internal

A decoction is an infusion's slower cousin, made by simmering rather than steeping. It is the method for the tougher parts of a plant: roots, barks, seeds, berries and woody stems, whose compounds need sustained heat and time to release into the water. Astragalus, licorice root, ginger and most mushrooms are prepared as decoctions.

Put one teaspoon of chopped, crushed or powdered plant matter per cup into a saucepan of ceramic, enamel or stainless steel. Not aluminium.
Add one cup of cold water for each teaspoon of herb and bring to the boil.
Once boiling, cover, lower the heat and simmer for fifteen minutes, or longer for very hard roots and barks.
Strain and drink while hot. A decoction keeps in the fridge for a day or two and can be reheated gently.
A serve is usually one cup. Each herb's profile gives its usual amount.

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Tincture Internal

A tincture is a concentrated liquid extract of a herb, made by steeping the plant in a mixture of alcohol and water for several weeks. The alcohol draws out compounds that water alone cannot reach, and keeps the extract for years. Tinctures are the form herbalists most often work with: a small serve, taken in a little water, with no brewing. Our liquid herbs and spagyric extracts are made this way by people who do it well, which is why we suggest buying tinctures rather than making them. The method is here for interest and for the curious. One piece of folklore worth a smile: many herbalists start a tincture on a new moon and strain it on the full.

Put about 120 g of finely chopped dried herb into a large glass jar.
Pour over half a litre of 50% alcohol. Some triple-distilled vodkas are this strength; otherwise use the strongest clear spirit you can find. Seal tightly and shake well.
Keep the jar in a dark place for two to six weeks, shaking it every day or two. Six weeks gives the fuller extract.
Strain through muslin or a fine sieve, squeezing the last liquid from the herb. Discard the herb and bottle the tincture in dark glass.
A tincture is far stronger than an infusion, so a serve is small: often fifteen drops to two millilitres, once or twice a day, in a little water. Adding it to a cup of just-boiled water lets most of the alcohol evaporate.

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Powdered herbs Internal

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.

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.

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Wash External

A herbal wash is an infusion or decoction used on the outside of the body instead of being drunk: poured over the skin, dabbed on with a cloth, or added to a bath. It is the gentlest external preparation and the one to start with. Washes are used for skin that is irritated, itchy or slow to settle, for rinsing minor grazes, and as a soak for tired feet. A wash is also the basis of a herbal hair rinse: a strong infusion of rosemary, nettle, chamomile or calendula poured through the hair after washing.

Make an infusion or a decoction of the herb, following the method for its plant part, and let it cool until comfortable on the skin.
Wash the area with the liquid two or three times a day for three to seven days, using a clean cloth or simply pouring it over.
For a bath, pour a litre of strong infusion or decoction into a hot bath and soak.
For a hair rinse, pour a strong, cooled infusion through clean, wet hair as the last step, and leave it in.
Make a fresh wash each day. It does not keep.

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Compress External

A compress is a cloth soaked in a hot herbal infusion or decoction and held against the skin. It is more concentrated than a wash, and the heat does part of the work by opening the skin to the herb. Compresses are used for bruises and sprains, aching muscles, skin that is inflamed or itchy, minor wounds, and fungal skin complaints, with the herb chosen to suit: calendula, chamomile, yarrow, comfrey leaf or thyme.

Make a litre of strong infusion or decoction, depending on the herb.
Take a clean cloth of natural fibre: cotton, linen or hemp.
Fold the cloth into a pad, soak it in the hot liquid, wring it lightly and lay it on the area.
Keep it hot: change the pad as it cools, or lay a hot water bottle over it. Twenty to thirty minutes is a usual session.
Repeat two or three times a day while needed, with a fresh batch each day.

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Poultice External

A poultice is a compress made with the plant itself rather than its liquid: fresh herbs crushed, or dried powder mixed to a paste, laid on the skin and covered. Because the whole plant stays in contact with the skin, a poultice is the strongest of the external preparations. Poultices are used for bruises and sprains, for drawing splinters and the contents of boils, and for stubborn skin complaints. Comfrey leaf, plantain, slippery elm and marshmallow root are classic poultice herbs.

Crush fresh herbs, or mix powdered dried herb with enough hot water to make a thick paste.
Mixing in a spoonful of fresh aloe vera gel or castor oil helps the paste hold together and keeps it against the skin.
Spread the paste on the area, or onto a piece of cloth laid against it, and cover with a cloth or plastic wrap to hold the moisture in.
Keep it hot with a hot water bottle, for twenty minutes to an hour.
Rinse off, and repeat once or twice a day while needed.

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Salve External

A salve is a herb carried in a base of oil and beeswax, so it can be kept and applied as often as needed without brewing. The herb is first steeped in oil, usually for weeks in sunlight or gently over low heat; the oil is then strained and set with wax. Salves are used where a herb needs to stay on the skin: calendula for grazes and dry patches, comfrey and arnica for bruises and knocks, peppermint and camphor rubbed into aching muscles. They are the most involved preparation to make at home, so many people buy them ready made, including from our shops.

Make a herbal oil: fill a jar with dried herb, cover with olive or sweet almond oil, seal, and leave in a sunny spot for four to six weeks, shaking now and then. Or steep it in a bowl over barely simmering water for a few hours.
Strain the oil through muslin, pressing the herb to get the last of it out.
Gently heat the oil with grated beeswax, about one part wax to five parts oil, until the wax has melted.
Pour into small jars or tins and leave to set.
Keep in a cool place. A salve made this way keeps for about a year.

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