It’s evening time. The lights are low and it’s dark outside, maybe even a bit chilly. You’re winding down from the day and decide to make yourself a warming cup of chai. You put your herbal decoction on the stove and choose a movie to watch. 30 minutes later, you’re curled up on the couch with your chai watching a good movie.
Herbal decoctions are a great and necessary way to work with many herbs. So what are they and how do you make one? In this article, we’re going to go over everything you need to know about decoctions (plus, get a free herbal chai recipe at the bottom of the article!)
If you’re looking to learn more about tea making, check out this article on making medicinal teas. In this article, I go over decoctions plus a dozen other ways to make a medicinal cup of tea.
Disclaimer
This article is for educational purposes only and is not intended to treat or diagnose any health conditions. There are no federal organizations to test herbal products or license herbalists, so the herbs discussed are not FDA regulated. All the herbs discussed in this article are generally regarded as safe, but you may have adverse interactions with particular herbs, just like we can all have reactions to different foods! And remember, your health is always your own responsibility.
What is an Herbal Decoction?
When most people think of tea, they picture what’s called an infusion. To make an infusion, you just put some hot water and tea in a container and let it steep. However, decoctions are a little different and require more active participation from us.
To make a decoction, we put water and herbs into a pot with a tight-fitting lid and let the combination simmer for a while. And that’s it! Depending on the herbs we’re working with, the decoction will simmer for varying times. And you can use water, milk, or milk alternatives to make this kind of tea!
Why Make an Herbal Decoction?
Making decoctions requires more effort than most infusions, so why do it? Well, there’s a very good reason! In herbalism, we’ll make decoctions with herbs who are tough and take a lot of energy to break down. That includes most roots, nuts, seeds, and bark. Lots of these tough herbs won’t give you much in a typical infusion, so we use decoctions so all of those medicinal properties make it into the tea.
Making an Herbal Decoction
Making a decoction is really simple. Given the brief description above, you may be able to figure it out on your own! Regardless, here are some tips for making an herbal decoction.
Decoction Supplies
To make an herbal decoction, you’ll need a few things. First, you’ll need a pot with a tight-fitting lid. Make sure the pot isn’t made from toxic materials such as aluminum and non-stick coatings. Instead, try pots made with ceramic, cast iron, or stainless steel. The tight-fitting lid is important because there are some constituents in the plants that will evaporate with the heat and it’s important to keep that goodness inside.
Next, you’ll need a stainer and a mug! However you wish to strain the tea and drink it is up to you!
Decoction Steps
To make a decoction, the steps are simple. Add as much water as you please to your pot. Add the herbs, making a thin but full layer of herbs on top of the water, usually about three heaping tablespoons for a gallon-sized pot. This amount of herb is ideal when making tea for medicinal purposes, so you can add less if you’re making tea just for enjoyment.
Bring the water up to a boil and reduce the heat. Let the tea simmer for a while. As I said above, the length of time you simmer your decoction will depend on the herbs you’re working with and the effect you’re looking for. The standard time for simmering a decoction is 20-40 minutes. But, sometimes, you may want or need to simmer a decoction for 1-4 hours. The longer you simmer the tea, the stronger it will be, the more constituents you’ll extract, and the more medicinal the tea will be.
Herbs for Your Decoctions
Remember, we make decoctions when we’re working with most tough herbs like roots, nuts, seeds, mushrooms, and bark. For example, turmeric, astragalus, dandelion root, nutmeg, fennel seed, allspice, chaga, reishi, cinnamon, and many, many others. Some herbs, like ginger root, are potent enough that they don’t necessarily need the decoction in order for you to receive their medicinal benefits.
Although decoctions are usually for these tough herbs, that doesn’t mean other herbs can’t go into a decoction, too. More delicate plant parts like leaves, flowers, and stems can usually be added to a decoction, it’s just not necessary to receive the optimum medicinal benefits from the plants.
The only herbs that shouldn’t go into a decoction are demulcent herbs. When we’re working with demulcent herbs, it’s usually because we want those slimy, hydrating properties. Demulcent herbs require cold water in order to release their constituents–hot water won’t release the constituents who create the effects we’re looking for. Therefore, by adding demulcents herbs to a decoction, you won’t be getting what you need from them.
If you’re looking for medicinal-grade herbs, check out Mountian Rose Herbs.
Herbal Decoction Experiment
You don’t have to take my word for it–let’s experiment!
Gather some tough herbs you’d like to make into tea. Add some into an infusion and add some into a decoction for the same length of time. Once they’re both done, compare the two. Which one is darker? Which has a stronger smell? What are the differences in taste?
After experimenting, come back to this article and share your results in the comment section. I’d love to hear about it!
Herbal Chai Decoction Recipe
If you’re looking for ideas about how to experiment with decoctions, then you should try out this herbal chai blend! I mean, who doesn’t love a good chai?
You can read the full recipe in this article. In the article, we go over a variety of herbs to add to your chai blend so you can practice your creativity and create something that sounds amazing to you. Plus, you’ll get links to purchase high-quality, medicinal-grade herbs for your chai and we go over decoctions one more time.
Or, you can download the free herbal recipe card by putting in your email below!
Summary
As you’re curled up on the couch with your herbal chai decoction, you can feel good knowing you’ve learned a new skill and can work with lots of new herbs and their medicinal properties.
In this article, we went over what decoctions are, why we make them, and how to make them. Plus, you have an herbal chai blend recipe you can make any time.
Did you try out the experiment? Or maybe you have some decoction recipes you want to share? Put your thoughts in the comments below, I’d love to hear from you!
Thanks for reading and happy tea making!
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