The foundation of an herbal apothecary commences with powders, already deeply rooted in kitchens as the spices we cook with every day. Peek into your spice rack to see cinnamon, ginger, turmeric, cloves, nutmeg, cumin, cayenne pepper, all herbs that have been powdered from their original form whether that be root, bark, or berry. Others, rosemary, thyme, parsley, sage, these may be powders but more likely are there as dried leaves. The spices that you buy are less potent than an herb that you grind into powder in your kitchen because the strength of powders depends on how long since the grinding. Although they may not be the strongest form, powders are one of the easiest and more versatile ways to add herbs into cooking and baking.

To maximize the strength of a powdered herb, it is worth it to do the powdering yourself. On an esoteric level, it will help your connection with plants, the more you handle an herb the more you know it, the better your understanding of its character.

Powdering Equipment

I have a beautiful mortar and pestle, but it is more of a spiritual thing at this point. I did a couple of times attempt to pulverize some dried roots in it and it took forever, my arm was exhausted and the roots really were barely smaller than they had been when I started, certainly far from a powder. But it is nice to look at and imagine how in the world people of ancient times broke up hard plants using stones. I really wonder. They must have been very strong and very patient.

Any coffee grinder will work for dried leaves, but keep a separate one for coffee grinding because if you use the same one for both your herbs will taste like coffee and your coffee will taste like herbs. I bought an industrial strength herb grinder on Amazon for $125. It is worth it if you are going to grind harder barks, roots, or seeds, all of which may break a coffee grinder. Whether incorporating into a recipe or making tea, powdering your herbs just before using them retains their strength. For tea, follow infusion or decoction recommendations for each specific plant, but starting with powders will improve extraction benefits. While powdering yourself eliminates the concern about loss of activity, some really hard herbs you just have to buy powdered and there are reputable places to do that.

Method

The traditional way to powder herbs is to use a mortar and pestle; the easier way is to use an electric coffee grinder. Powdering fresh herbs will result in a mushy mess because there is still too much water in fresh. So the first step to powdering is drying. Grinding powders can be messy with herbal particles flying into the air. If this bothers your nose, you can wear a cloth mask or tie a scarf over your nose and mouth gently for a minute until the dust settles. After grinding, it is a good idea to put the powder through a fine sieve to remove any large particles remaining. Leaves, flowers, and softer roots are suitable for powdering on your own, but really hard plant materials like dried berries, barks, and most roots would break a home coffee grinder. Buy small amounts and use them up fairly quickly. Purchase from somewhere that you trust, and keep powders packaged in a dry place.

Using Herbal Powders

I recently heard a talk from an elder and most respected herbalist who said that powdering was his favorite way to prepare herbs. This surprised me because of the potency loss issues. The more I listened to his reasoning, the more I found his practice made sense. His premise was powder the herb yourself just before using and the potency will still be good. He also pointed to the benefit of ingesting all the plant material as a powder rather than only what is extracted in water or alcohol if using a tea or a tincture. Nothing is lost. The whole plant is reduced to a form that is readily obtainable. The controversy lies in whether it is better to use the whole plant powdered and then made into tea, syrup, tincture, or if powder can be added straight just as it is and still have effect. I do not claim to know the answer, but I do see the benefits of powdering and I like it because it makes things less complicated and that is a good way to extend a baking apothecary.

No doubt it is easy to use powders. Mix them with warm water to make a tea. Add them to yogurt, applesauce, or smoothies. Put them into capsules. Combine them with juice, honey, maple syrup, or roll into balls mixed with nut butters. Powders can be made into herbal jello or puddings for a nice way to use with children or anyone sensitive to the taste of herbs. And of course just open up your spice cabinet for endless possibilities. Do what you have been already in so many recipes. Add a bit more, a teaspoon, two or three, and experiment with a new plant like lavender, amla, chaga, or astragalus.

In traditional cultures tea is interconnected to the spirit. There is a Chinese adage asserting that a person with a teapot will also have happiness. Ancient Eastern philosophers furnished meaning of life answers while drinking tea. In Japanese society, tea is ceremonial and proper preparation is thick with significance. Preparing tea conveys mindfulness, eliminates the distractions of the thinker, invites the possibility of calm and tranquility. This is not to imply that brewing tea will make the hardships of life easier or shed enlightenment on the nagging questions of why, but rituals that produce beauty and comfort keep us centered, remind us that life is worth living and possibilities are endless. Preparing herbal tea as a decoction is a walk away from the routine, it compels a mind to stay in the here and now with awareness to doing something carefully, attentively. The result is aesthetically pleasing and also grounding.

An original medicinal tea legend comes from China telling that some leaves fell into a pot of hot water and a curious emperor tasted and liked it. But the history of tea seems to take on a life of its own, evolving, growing, refining, and becoming more sophisticated. Now there are endless types of teas with varied individual uses and importance. On the kitchen apothecary ladder, a decoction is one rung up from an infusion. It is herbal tea with a cooking slant along with a technique formula. A more vigorous method of extracting the benefit of an herb, it is reserved for tougher plant parts such as roots, twigs, barks, berries, seeds, and peels.

When I think of a decoction, the word concoction comes into my mind with images of brews, potions, and mixtures of different elements. In reality a decoction is brewing tea with one additional step; gentle cooking. In order for the valuable herbal qualities to be pulled out of the tougher plant parts, a stronger process is required. The process is place the herbs in a saucepan with water, bring to a gentle boil, continue to simmer for a while, then cover the pan, turn off the heat and steep and infuse for a while longer.

While both methods result in a strong tea, there are a few differences between herbal infusions and decoctions. First, the water used for decoctions is cold, cool, or room temperature and mixed with the herb. Ideally, the herbs can even soak in the water for a while before they are heated together. This is not the case for an infusion, water is heated first and then poured over the herb. Second, more water is needed for decoctions than infusions because steam will evaporate during the simmering time. Additionally, decoctions for the most part take longer to make than infusions.

The plant parts used in decoctions are hard, the reason they need a stronger way to pull out their goodness. Chopping in small pieces or powdering helps more plant touch the menstruum, the water, so a better job the water can do at extraction. But sometimes these roots or pieces of bark are so hard you can’t even do that, this is an indication that they need a longer cooking and steeping time. But if you can, cut the herbs into the smallest pieces that you can or better grind them into a coarse powder. Seeds and berries are good just as they are. Fresh is easier to cut than dried, but dried may be easier to powder than fresh.

The finished decoction product will likely be strong, potent, maybe even harsh like the tougher plant parts used to prepare it. It may not taste great and often herbalists will add other better tasting teas to make them go down easier. Once made, a decoction can be drank as hot or cold, kept in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, added to recipes in place of water, or converted to syrups and other elixirs. In baking, mix flavors that will mold together for richness, refining the most bitter, sour, or pungent tastes.

Herbal Decoction Preparation

1. Measure herb
2. Place in non-aluminum saucepan with water and bring just to simmer over medium low heat. Reduce heat, cover pan with lid ajar to allow some steam to escape and continue to simmer gently. Do not allow to come to rolling boil.
3. Once simmering time has finished, remove from heat and adjust lid to cover tightly. Steep for 1hour.
4. Separate herbs from water by pouring water through fine mesh strainer into a glass or ceramic container.
5. Drink warm, cool, add to recipes, mix with other herbal teas, or refrigerate for up to 3 days.

Herbal tea. It is the most traditional, time-honored component to a kitchen apothecary. No herbal apothecary is without it. With tea not foreign to most homes, herbal infusions gently unlock your kitchen culinary medicine cabinet. A might stronger than an average cup of tea, infusions yield nourishment, aroma, taste, ingredients, remedies, connections, spirituality, and energy. Herbal tea may seem mild in comparison to a bottle of purchased extract, but doubting the value of herbal infusions is a mistake. The more complex, sophisticated extraction methods do not equate to better potency. The power of teas, infused or decocted, offer physical, emotional, and spiritual gifts.

I was filled with questions during the first class of my two-year herbal studies program, a vocabulary review and herbal preparation summary. Looking back now, I am humbled to think that in terms of tea making infusion and decoction were unfamiliar concepts for me. With eagerness, in the second class question and answer session, I asked my teacher if he preferred any type of tea for infusions and decoctions. I will never forget his face. As a true novice, I knew of herbal teas from tea bags and meant did he like certain companies, like Traditional Medicinal or Alvita, two I knew, and I wanted to know if there were others. But, he thought of tea making as using the herb itself with water; infusion and decoction were the terms for preparation. I deserved the reaction I got. With screwed up eyes and a tilted head, he simply answered, “Infusions and decoctions are teas. I am not sure what you are asking.” Lesson learned.

As time went on, I discovered, that the difference between herbal infusions and decoctions was in the gentleness versus aggressiveness of tea preparation. Herbal infusions are reserved for the more delicate parts of the plants, the flowers or the leafy parts. Decoctions used for the tougher roots and barks. It is all about the best method to extract the maximum benefit from your herbs.

I think I was around 10 when first allowed to turn on the stove to boil water. I was surprised I could use a teakettle and not a pot, the ease of it. My mom worried the steam would burn me, so I actually did not pour the water into the teacup, but when I finally was permitted that step, I felt like I had grown up. I felt like a cook. In preparing an infusion, I feel like an herbalist.

Elementary but practicable, infusions are a platform on which to build and grow in complexity. Herbal infusions are tried and true and the heart of traditional herbalism. They are delicious, enticing, and loveable. Herbal infusions are uncomplicated but also artful, spiritual, rewarding. The basic method is straightforward: measure the herb, place it in a glass or ceramic container, boil water, pour the water over herbs, cover, steep, strain.

Strategies for ultimate herbal infusion making include remembering that plants are not boiled or cooked themselves; hot water is poured over them. The proportion of herbs and water varies depending on the type of plant and the desired strength of the tea, but a general guideline is to use 1 tablespoon of the herb with 1 cup of water. The water is best just close to boiling, not rumbling or bubbling. An infusion should always be made in a closed container, and steeping should be done covered, the steam should not escape. A coffee press is the ultimate, but any quart heatproof container with a lid is fine, such as a canning jar. The time for infusing also varies depending on the strength and plant, but 20 to 30 minutes is the minimum, longer is fine. Infusions can be kept in the refrigerator for 1-3 days. Last, the end result of infusing herbs is considerably stronger than an average cup of herbal tea; this is a good thing, more beneficial.

As for baking with tea, anywhere there is liquid, there is potential to replace this with an herbal infusion. Proof yeast in it instead of plain water, substitute it in icings or batters, melt chocolate in it, use it in puddings, custards, or mousse. Infusions can be the building platform for herbal syrups and sauces. The possibilities are endless.

Herbal Infusion Preparation

1. Measure herbs, leaves or flowers. Amounts will vary depending on the plant however one tablespoon is generally a safe measurement for 1 cup of water; 1 ounce for 1 quart of water.
2. Place measured herbs into a heat-tolerant container with a cover, such as a French coffee press or canning jar.
3. Bring water to boil, in teakettle or on stove in saucepan.
4. Pour water over herbs, a general guideline is 8 ounces (1 cup) of hot water per 1 tablespoon of herbs, although again exact amounts vary with different plants.
5. Make sure container is covered so that steam does not escape, a kitchen towel can be placed over a coffee press or if lid is not secure.
6. Allow to steep for approximately 1 hour; again time will vary depending on plant.
7. Strain water from herbs. If using a coffee press, press down plunger; if using a jar, pour water through a fine mesh strainer into a clean container.
8. Drink warm or cool. Add to recipes. Keep in refrigerator up to 4 days.