| \n How\u00a0 <\/span>To\u00a0 <\/span>Make\u00a0 <\/span>A\u00a0 <\/span>Tea<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n A tea is an extract<\/em><\/strong> made with hot or cold water.\u00a0 <\/span>We make a tea by putting the herbs into water and letting them steep or simmer.\u00a0 <\/span>Leaves and flowers, the soft plant parts, are steeped.\u00a0 <\/span>Harder plant parts, such as most roots, barks and seeds, require simmering.\u00a0 <\/span>There are exceptions to this rule.\u00a0 <\/span>Plant parts that are highly aromatic are often steeped so as not to loose their important volatile oils.\u00a0 <\/span>Examples of these herbs are valerian root and ginger root.\u00a0 <\/span>Other herbs work well as cold infusions, such as wild cherry bark and marshmallow root.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n When making herbal teas always use good quality spring or distilled water.\u00a0 <\/span>It is important to use non-aluminum pots and utensils for preparing your herbs.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n First it is important to understand proportions<\/em><\/strong> of herb to water.\u00a0 <\/span>It all depends on whether you desire to make a pleasant beverage tea or are trying to make a more therapeutic tea.\u00a0 <\/span>For a beverage tea you might use anywhere from 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon of herbs per cup of water.\u00a0 <\/span>For a therapeutic tea you could use anywhere from 1\/2 ounce to 1 full ounce of herb to 2 cups of water.\u00a0 <\/span>Note:<\/em>\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong>Volume is very different from weight.\u00a0 <\/span>Herbs such as chamomile and mullein are light and fluffy compared with denser herbs like anise seed or burdock root.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Infusions are made with room temperature water or with hot water.\u00a0 <\/span>To make a cold infusion<\/em><\/strong> or sun tea<\/em><\/strong> place your herbs directly in the water or tea ball.\u00a0 <\/span>If making a sun tea put the herbs and water in a glass jar and set out in the sun for a few hours or until the tea is well brewed.\u00a0 <\/span>When making a cold infusion put the herbs in and let set overnight.\u00a0 <\/span><\/em><\/strong>A standard infusion<\/em><\/strong> is made by first boiling the water, turning it off, then putting in the herbs.\u00a0 <\/span>It is best to cover the pot so as not to loose any volatile oils the plants contain.\u00a0 <\/span>The herbs are left to steep in the hot water for anywhere from 10 – 20 minutes.\u00a0 <\/span>After that time the herbs are removed by straining the tea.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Decoctions<\/span><\/em><\/strong> are made by simmering the herbs in water, anywhere from the usual 20 minutes up to an hour or more.\u00a0 <\/span>Put the herbs in the water and bring it to a boil.\u00a0 <\/span>Reduce the heat and let the herbs simmer with the lid on.\u00a0 <\/span>Strain and your decoction is ready.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Simple really – first make your decoction with the hard plant parts first.\u00a0 <\/span>After this is done, turn off the heat and add the softer plant parts.\u00a0 <\/span>Cover and steep until ready.\u00a0 <\/span>Then strain your tea.<\/span><\/p>\n Text & Photograph Copyright 2008 by Jodi Shagg, In Harmony Herbs & Spices\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u00a0 How\u00a0 To\u00a0 Make\u00a0 A\u00a0 Tea \u00a0 Chamomile \u2013 Matricaria recutita \u00a0 \u00a0 A tea is an extract made with hot or cold water.\u00a0 We make a tea by putting the herbs into water and letting them steep or simmer.\u00a0 Leaves and flowers, the soft plant parts, are steeped.\u00a0 Harder plant parts, such as most […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.inharmonyherbs.com\/store\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/70"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.inharmonyherbs.com\/store\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.inharmonyherbs.com\/store\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.inharmonyherbs.com\/store\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.inharmonyherbs.com\/store\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.inharmonyherbs.com\/store\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/70\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.inharmonyherbs.com\/store\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}} |
![](\"file:\/\/\/C:\/DOCUME%7E1\/Jodi\/LOCALS%7E1\/Temp\/msoclip1\/03\/clip_image002.jpg\")
<\/span><\/em><\/strong>