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In this post, I am going to share with you how to make the following basic herbal preparations:
- Infusions (like the hibiscus tea above)
- Decoctions (like the herbal coffee above)
- Tinctures (like the American Ginseng above)
Depending on the herb you are using and what you are hoping to get out of it, there are certain ways that you can prepare it to get the most benefit.
Once you know the basics, you can easily prepare a wide range of herbs to get the biggest bang for your buck!
Keep in mind that the proportions are not set in stone and you can adjust them to suit your needs and tastes.
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How to Make Herbal Infusions
Infusions are typically used when the herbs you are using are leaves and flowers of a plant. Sometimes seeds and roots will be used in an infusion when there are delicate essential oils that would be lost when boiled in a decoction.
If you use seeds in an infusion, you should lightly crush them, so that the water has more access to the constituents in the seed.
Fresh or dried herbs can be made using an infusion method. To prepare an infusion all you need to know is:
- Use cold, filtered water.
- Use approximately 1-2 teaspoons of dried herb per cup of water OR use 3 teaspoons of fresh herb per cup of water.
- Bring your water to a boil and pour over your herbs.
- Allow to steep for 10-20 minutes, covered.
- Strain off the herbs and serve.
- If you are wanting more of a medicinal infusion, you can use up to 1/2 ounce of dried herbs per cup of water and allow it to steep for 20+ minutes, up to several hours.
Infusions do not have a long shelf-life, so it is best to make them as needed, or they can be stored in the fridge for a day or two.
How to Make Herbal Decoctions
Decoctions are preferred for harder herbs like roots, barks, and seeds. It is helpful to grind or crush your whole roots, barks, and seeds up some before brewing your decoction, but it is not required. I actually have a coffee grinder that I reserve specifically for herbs, so I will pulse my herbs in there first before starting the decoction.
You can also purchase roots, barks, and seeds already ground, but they will have a shorter shelf-life than the whole herb.
To make a decoction, you just need the following steps:
- Use cold, filtered water.
- Use approximately 1/4 ounce of dried herb per cup of water. I usually make mine by the quart, so you need roughly 1 ounce of herb per quart of water.
- Bring your water to a boil and add the herbs.
- Reduce the heat as low as possible and cover (keep covered tightly as many constituents like essential oils are lost through evaporation).
- Simmer for 20 minutes if you’re using small pieces of the herb, but if you’re using bigger chunks of roots, bark, or seeds, then you can simmer for up to an hour.
- Remove from heat and strain off the herbs and serve. If you like, you can also leave them to steep even longer, up to overnight.
Decoctions are going to be much stronger than infusions, so a typical serving size would be 1/4 cup to 1 cup, depending on what you’re using.
How to Make an Herbal Tincture
Tinctures are herbal extracts and can be made with pretty much any herb. Tinctures are typically made with alcohol, vegetable glycerin, or vinegar.
Making tinctures at home is MUCH cheaper than buying them. Here is a price breakdown that I did recently:
Homemade Holy Basil Tincture:
- Vodka (1.75 liters or roughly 59 ounces): $10.99 or $0.19 per ounce.
- Organic Dried Holy Basil from Mountain Rose Herbs (1 pound / 16 ounces): $13.00 or $0.81 per ounce
- Total per ounce cost for Homemade Holy Basil Tincture: $1.00
Store bought Holy Basil Tincture:
- Gaia Herbs Holy Basil Tincture from Vitacost.com (price as of 5/28/15): $10.82 for a one ounce bottle
That is a MASSIVE savings!
For this tutorial, I am going to be using the alcohol method, as I have not yet tried making tinctures any other way.
Brandy and vodka are the recommended choices when making an herbal tincture and they should be at least 80 proof. I use vodka.
If you’re avoiding grains and potatoes, there are vodkas made with grapes, which I didn’t know about until just recently. I used a brand called IDÔL that is made from grapes in Burgundy, France. The huge liquor store here in Denver only carried two kinds of vodka made from grapes, but they said there are many more brands than that. It will just depend on what is carried in your area.
Here are some names of other vodkas made from grapes that you can look for in your area:
- Bombora
- Ciroc Ultra Premium
- DiVine
- Roth
- Finger Lakes Distilling Vintner’s
- Grey Heron
- SF Vodka “China Beach”
To make your tincture, all you need to do is follow these steps:
- Use a very clean glass jar. Pint and half-pint Mason jars work great.
- Make sure your herbs are finely chopped or ground.
- Place your herbs in your jar and then cover with your alcohol until there is about 1 inch of liquid above the herbs. Remember that dried herbs will expand quite a bit, so you want to start out with less than you think. Some herbs are going to expand more than others. This is not an exact science, but a rough guideline that was given in Practical Herbalism, by David Hoffman, was 4 ounces of finely chopped or ground herbs to 1 pint of alcohol.
- Cover with a tight lid and label and date the jar. I store mine in the pantry where it stays dark, as light can destroy the useful compounds.
- Shake the tincture every day for the first week or two (if you remember) and then let it brew for 4-6 weeks.
- Strain off the herbs. You can use a strainer, cheesecloth, or even a very clean t-shirt. That way you can really squeeze all of the tincture out of the herbs.
- Pour the tincture into your bottle (the dropper bottles work nice). I liked the dark blue or amber glass, which helps keep the light out of the bottle.
- Compost the herbs.
Due to an overwhelming number of requests, I finally got around to making a quick video showing how I bottle my own tinctures.
Dosage on tinctures is going to vary, depending on the herb. Tinctures are going to be much stronger than infusions and decoctions.
Do you make your own herbal preparations? What tips and tricks can you share? Leave a comment below!
Supporting a The Adrenals, Thyroid, and Whole Body Through Herbs
When it comes to supporting overall wellness, herbs are a great tool to have in your toolkit, especially those who may be dealing with chronic illness of some type. Since 2009, when I started this site, I have met thousands upon thousands of people through my work and by far, the #1 health complaints are:
- adrenal fatigue (or adrenal dysfunction of some sort) (click here to read all of my adrenal health articles)
- thyroid disorders (hypo-, hyper-, or autoimmune) (click here to read all of my thyroid health articles)
Because of this, I wanted to add in a section into this post about the benefit of using herbs with chronic illness.
If you are dealing with any type of chronic illness, I’m sorry to break it to you, but caffeine may not be your best friend. 🙁 While you can find lots of info online in both the pro- and the anti-coffee camps, the fact of the matter comes down to the fact that are a lot of people dealing with chronic illness, especially thyroid and adrenal problems, that simply cannot tolerate coffee and caffeine.
While those with sluggish adrenal glands tend to feel run down and in need of a regular pick-me-up (like coffee and other caffeinated beverages), in the long run, caffeine can do more harm than good while you are healing. I go into the “whys” around caffeine and your adrenals in this detailed post here. In addition to the caffeine, there are other constituents, molds, and mycotoxins that can show up in coffee that some people find they react to and can further exacerbate the toxic load on the body.
When I was diagnosed with autoimmune disease and adrenal fatigue, one of the first things that had to go was coffee. In addition to dealing with these issues, we suspected that I was having some detox pathway sluggishness so we wanted to also focus on supporting the liver and lymph systems. Most people who are dealing with chronic illness are also going to have issues with detoxification of the body, which is why herbs can play such an important role.
To be honest, I never drank coffee because of the caffeine. I drank coffee for the taste and aroma, as well as the emotional experience I felt to my morning cup of joe. For me, it was a ritual that I looked forward to every day (and sometimes multiple times a day). Whether I was brewing it at home or going to my local coffee shops, the experience was one that I clung to tightly.
But, when I was faced with new health struggles, I knew I had to do whatever I could to support my body and give it the tools it needed to heal. Giving up coffee and caffeine was one step in this direction.
And it sucked.
I turned to the coffee substitutes on the market in a desperate attempt to recreate the ritual I had grown so fond of, but nothing ever tasted the way I wanted it to. Nothing ever gave me that same experience that my cup of “real” coffee did. I knew there had to be something better, but I simply could not find it on my health food store’s shelves.
Necessity is the mother of invention so that is why I created my own coffee substitutes. They were made with organic, sustainably harvested herbs with zero grains, zero gluten, and zero caffeine. Just herbs.
Herbs that not only tasted delicious but supported my body’s function, like liver detox, bile production, digestion, etc. All of the herbs used in my “coffee” blends have been used for thousands of years to support the body’s normal functions and help everything work a little better — something we all need in today’s toxic world! (psst, dandelion is one of the herbs!)
When it came to creating these blends, if I could get something to not only tasted amazing (and helped me recreate my dearly loved ritual), but also did amazingly supportive things for my body, then it’s a no brainer!
I sold these pre-made blends on Etsy for awhile and the demand was more than I could keep up with. People literally LOVED these blends and were stunned at how much like coffee they actually tasted. Customers who had been dealing with a variety of chronic illnesses had given up coffee to heal their bodies, but like me were deeply missing their morning cup of joe ritual.
After careful consideration and work with some highly experienced advisors, I decided to stop selling the pre-made blends and instead share my proprietary recipes in the form of an eBook. That way I could arm people with the knowledge and recipes they needed to make their own caffeine-free, gluten-free, grain-free blends in the comfort of their own home.
That is why I created the best-selling DIY Herbal Coffees eBook: A Complete Guide To Making Delicious Herbal Coffees to Support Healing & Stress Relief.
Now in its second edition, this ebook features:
- All of my proprietary herbal blend recipes to you can craft a homemade herbal cup of “coffee” at home.
- A ton of researched information about coffee’s impact on the health of those dealing with issues like adrenal fatigue, blood sugar dysregulation, autoimmune disease, thyroid disease, and any other chronic illness.
- Information about all of the herbs used, why I selected them, how to source them, how to prepare and store you “coffees”, and much more.
- Access to your own personal coffee shop where I show you how to recreate your favorite coffee shop drinks and pastries with wholesome, nourishing real food ingredients. No junk here. Only real food.
This book truly is a comprehensive guide to supporting your health, reducing your stress, and bringing a little something special back into your healing journey. You can learn more and download your own copy of this revolutionary wellness guide here, or simply click on the image below.
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From the picture above, you have an hawthorn tincture. I just discovered an hawthorn tree on our property and was wondering what to do with the berries. I read they are good for heart ailments. What do you use the tincture for and can you recommend any ‘recipes’ for anything to use those berries! 🙂 I’m new to foraging and really want to use what the land provides.
Hi Shelley – How cool to discover that! Hawthorne is traditionally used for heart conditions and also to improve circulation. I am testing it out to see if it helps with my circulation. I haven’t had time to read these in full, but here’s a few posts that I thought sounded promising:
http://www.eattheweeds.com/the-crataegus-clan-food-poison-2/
http://www.eatweeds.co.uk/hawthorn-jelly-recipe
http://www.greatbritishchefs.com/community/hawthorn-berry-recipes-foraging
http://wildcrafty.wordpress.com/2010/03/19/what-can-i-do-with-hawthorn-berries/
Have fun!!!! 🙂
Hello Shelley, I know this post is relatively old but I just wanted to warn you and maybe others looking to use Hawthorne medicinally- Unless you planted the tree I’d be wary since you aren’t sure what species it is. Genus Crataegus Monogyna and Crataegus Oxycantha are species cultivated and used for strengthening the cardiovascular system. Medicinal quality Hawthorn berries are carefully harvested for culinary and medicinal use, and the seeds are removed carefully for good reason. One should generally not eat wild hawthorn berries. You will see some sources saying they are okay to consume and just a few people have allergic reactions to them and such, but this kind of talk usually involves a lack of knowledge about the chemical compounds found in the berries. Mostly, I tend to stray away from consuming them at all because the seeds of hawthorn berries, like many other fruit contain cyanide, a toxin that converts to hydrogen cyanide — a highly poisonous gas — in the intestines and it is often difficult to make sure you’ve sucessfully removed all of the potentially toxic matter before consuming.
Hope this information helps :]
I thought an infusion was different than a tea. Susun Weed describes an infusion as a larger amount of herb (~1oz) steeped for 4-8 hours. http://www.susunweed.com/herbal_ezine/march04/anti-cancer.htm I’m still learning all of the terminology though. Hoping to take an herbalist course soon!
Hi Mellanie – The technical definition of an infusion is:
“Infusion is the process of extracting chemical compounds or flavors from plant material in a solvent such as water, oil or alcohol, by allowing the material to remain suspended in the solvent over time (a process often called steeping).”
Teas are a form of an infusion. For medicinal herbs, you typically want to let your herbs soak in your water for a longer duration of time (4-24 hours), in order to get the most compounds released. But, it will depend on the specific herbs you are using and what your desired end result is.
Also, keep in mind that the word “tea” is loosely used to describe any beverage that uses herbs.
Hope that helps!
Hi Jessica.
I have recently got into using and making my own medicine. I have a question about oil infusions.. i have read, form many places, that you mix your olive oil and herb and leave it in a sunny place for a few weeks – does the sun not oxides the oil – and in-turn make it rancid.
Help i have about 8 different oils infusing on my sunny window..
Hi Philippa – Oil infusions are one thing I don’t know much about. I would think that the sunlight would oxidize the oil and create a rancid product. I will ask one of my herbalist friends and see what they say.
Hi Jessica!
An oil infusion is great as long as you use dried herbs. It’s the water in fresh herbs that turns it rancid. Solar oil infusions are great for creating salves, by mixing your oil infusion with melted beeswax.
Thanks for the info posted above! I found you by googling about decoctions.
Thanks Christina!! Great info! 🙂
So glad to have this information. I have recently made a comfrey root decoction for the first time. It is the first time i have used the roots. I dug up fresh roots and scrubbed the mud off. I wasn’t sure whether to leave the dark ‘skin’ on the root but i did scrape it off. Could I leave it do you think? Maybe it has some property. Would the timing of boiling be the same for fresh root as dried root? Thanks, ginny
Hi Ginny – I am not 100% sure about the skin. I think you could leave it on. I’ll see if I can find out from one of my herbalist friends. In regards to the boiling time, yes, I believe it would be the same. 🙂
I have a couple of questions: I am somewhat new to herbalism and want to make my own tincture. I plan on using the ratio method. The first tincture I want to make is one from PTSD and anxiety. I already have a list of herbs on hand I wish to use. My questions are as follows:
-How many herbs am I allowed to use in each tincture?
-What is the usual recommended ounce measurement of herbs I should use?
-Should I do each herb in an individual tincture? If so, can I add them together in each bottle I make? -For the menstruum, can I make an infusion, decoction, as part of the menstruum? If not, is there another way I can add honey to my ‘medicine’?
-It is recommended to use Everclear, or Vodka, for alcohol, can I use Moonshine instead?
Thank you much. Been scowering for my answers and have come up short. I hope you can help! Sincerely, Ariel 🙂 <3
Hi Ariel – Thanks for stopping by. Let me see if I can answer your questions:
1. You can use as many as you like in a tincture, but I would probably stick with 3-5. That way you get enough quantity of them to make a difference. This depends on how much you’re making too.
2. Since tinctures are so forgiving, there really isn’t a specific ounce measurement. You just want to go by a ratio of 1 part plant to 2 parts alcohol for fresh herbs. For dried herbs, the standard ratio is 1:4, meaning 1 part dried herb to 4 parts alcohol — but this is not really set in stone. I tend to make mine with dry herbs and more in the 1:2 ratio, depending on the herb. I always make mine in a quart jar so I typically fill 1/2 of the jar full with herbs (not packed down) and the rest with alcohol. Dried herbs expand quite a bit and you just want to make sure that there is plenty of alcohol covering the top of the herb.
3. You can do single herb tinctures. That is a practice known as “simpling”. I like to use the simpling method when I am testing out new herbs and I don’t know how I will react. That way if I do have a reaction, I know exactly what did it. If it’s a multi-herb formula, it can be harder to identify the one you are reacting to.
4. You can definitely use moonshine. The only general rule for the alcohol is that you want it to be at least 80 proof.
Hope that helps! Herbs are so much fun and I think you’ll have a blast once you get started! 🙂
After infusing the ginseng dried root what else can be done with the left over powder. Can we not suck on it or eat it or even RESUSE IT. Please advise on this matter since these dried roots are very costly.
Hi Rohit – I typically compost it. I am sure you could add it in to smoothies or eat it plain, though it doesn’t taste that great. I’ll ask my herbalist friends if they have any recommendations! 🙂
I was wondering if there is a chart of abbreviation for tinctures and uses.
Hi Sylvia – I don’t have anything like that on this site, but I’m sure you can find some great info on Google. I’d just search for “tincture uses” or something like that! Have a great day! 🙂
I made two tincture and I kept them shaken up for weeks then husband got put into the hospital for 3 months and I wasn’t home a lot and I forgot to shake them. Should I throw them out or can I still use them.Thanks for the information and the site.
Hi Michelle! I answered your email about this, but wanted to share here too in case someone else had the same kind of question. You really only need to shake them for the first few days so they should be totally fine! I usually shake mine for the first 3-4 days and then forget about them for the next few months. If I do happen to remember, I’ll give them a shake every now and then, but even if I don’t they are still fine. 🙂 I am glad to hear your hubby is doing OK now. How scary that must have been! Take care! 🙂
When making a Tincture, would I use Vinegar the same way that you use the Alcohol ??
What kind of Vinegar should I use ??
Hi Ty – I have not made tinctures with vinegar before so I am not experienced in that area. You might try Googling it and see what tutorials you can find. I am assuming the process would be slightly different than the alcohol based versions. Happy brewing! 🙂
Hi Jessica! Happy New Year!
I just strained and decanted my first tincture, equal parts of powdered ginger root and cranberry to kick up my kidneys and stomach intestines. I had a question about the tincture itself. Since it was a powder, after straining it through a cheesecloth+sieve and thoroughly squeezing the life out of my cheesecloth to drain every drop, the mixture is opaque. It is a deep red color, something I would expect from cranberry powder, but it is not see-through at all. It might even create a sediment at the bottom of the dropper jar, I’m not sure as I just strained it today. It is still in a base of pure 80 proof vodka, but I am somewhat worried. I couldn’t find anything specific about making tinctures with powders instead of whole fresh or dried herbs/roots/etc. so I am not sure whether I should have re-filtered it until it was completely clear or not. Can you offer any insight into this? I don’t want my first step into herbalism to make me sick! 🙁
Hi Eric! Thanks for stopping by! Happy New Year to you as well! The sediment should be fine. I have used powdered herbs in my tinctures as well with no issues at all. Most recently I made some milk thistle tincture with grown milk thistle seeds since that was all I had on hand. There is lots of sediment in it even after straining, but I have not experienced any issues. One of my closest friends is a clinical herbalist so I am going to ask her opinion. I will report back. 🙂
Hi Eric! I just heard back from my friend and she said the sediment definitely won’t hurt you. For powdered herbs you just have to use a super, super fine strainer. She said that sometimes when she’s trying to get really small powdered bits of particulates out of whatever she’s straining she will run the liquid through a small muslin bag and it catches that last little fine stuff. The sediment will also settle to the bottom of the tincture bottle given enough time. Some people recommend organic unbleached coffee filters for what we just suggested, but it does take longer with the coffee filter. It will give you the clearest final product, but we don’t bother since the remaining sediment is not harmful. Hope that helps! 🙂
It truly does! Thanks so much Jessica, and give thanks to your friend as well! Apologies for the delayed response, but I am grateful nonetheless 🙂
Yay! So glad to help! 🙂
Hi Jessica! I googled DIY tinctures and found you and really enjoyed your videos – thank you! I was so discouraged about the price of a tincture advertised for migraines – with the shipping cost it was exorbitant (I live in Canada so with the exchange and all – no way!). I wanted to duplicate that one because it sounds great, but it calls for caffeine, which is helpful for migraines, and L Theanine, which is great for anxiety and mood. Do you have any idea how I could add those? Mountain Rose doesn’t list them. I suppose I could break open some capsules of L Theanine and dump in the powder. I hope this question isn’t too complicated but I have no idea who I can consult about this.
Hi Oksana! Thanks for stopping by! So glad my videos showed up in your search. 🙂 To be honest, I have no idea the best way to proceed on that. Are you familiar with the folks over at Learning Herbs: https://learningherbs.com? They are the first ones that popped into my head as a potential resource for you. Maybe see if you can ask a question on one of their social media pages and perhaps they could offer some guidance. If you get an answer, let me know as this would be good info to file away for future reference. Best of luck on your search! 🙂