So you read somewhere that a certain herb is great for whatever symptom ails you at the time… and off you go to grab tea bags! Fast forward to a few days later and you haven’t seen any improvements… was it that the herb doesn’t work for you or was it that your dose was simply too low. Herbs can take MONTHS to reach peak performance, they don’t act like pharmaceuticals. While yes there are some that work in acute situations, but others need time to build, to heal, to do whatever it is we need it to do.

Tea bags are the bane of every herbalists existence. Therapeutic doses don’t fit into a tiny mullein bag (please tell me you aren’t still using those grocery store bags?!

A therapeutic dose of herbs made into an infusion is a much larger brew.

Instructions:

Standard medical infusion = 30 grams of herb (total weight) + 1 litre of water. Steep for 30 minutes unless you are using herbs that need less steeping time so they don’t get “bitter” – some herbs can get quite bitter with a longer steep so add those into the steep towards the end.

If using multiple herbs you will use them on a part scale – this means the herb you want to focus on most gets a higher part count than some of the others. I use a main herb with maybe 2 parts, a supportive herb with maybe 1 part and drivers could be 1/2 a part or even less! This is where formulations come in. It’s why I put together specific formulations for each of my clients so it is specific to them and not generic.

How is this different for a decoction? We don’t continue to simmer the herbs, we bring to just before boiling and turn the heat off allowing the liquid to steep.