Conscious Choice: Herbal Preparations

November 1999 | Herbs for Health

Herbal Preparations

by Meg McGowan

Creating your own herbal preparations holds an element of magic. The appeal of a chemistry set and alchemy combines with our desire for self-reliance, enticing both the child and the adult in us to join in an act of creation. And it’s easier than you might think. Most people have prepared mild herbal infusions, simply by brewing a cup of herbal tea.

Of course, even with teas bought off grocery store shelves, it is a good idea to be familiar with the herbal ingredients, especially if you are consuming one type of tea on a regular basis over a long period of time. When working with medicinal teas or creating your own blends, it is essential to know the primary and secondary actions of the herbs you are using. Some herbs are too strong to be consumed as infusions, and some have constituents that may build up over time, causing undesirable or even toxic side effects. Knowledge is power, however, and part of the power is that in gaining knowledge our consciousness is expanded. Working with individual herbal infusions is an exercise in awareness, allowing us to realize how each component of everything we consume affects our bodies.

Infusions, Decoctions, and Tinctures

Infusions are fresh or dried herbs steeped in hot water and placed in a strainer that sits in a cup or teapot. For medicinal strength infusions, standard proportions are one ounce of dried herbs (or two ounces fresh) to a pint of water. Water is heated to just off a boil, then poured over the herbs. The cup or teapot should be covered during steeping — from ten to twenty minutes. Infusions gently extract benefits from the delicate aerial parts of plants, preserving volatile oils that might be lost through other methods of preparation.

Decoctions are similar to infusions, but the method of preparation is more vigorous. Sturdier plant parts, such as twigs, bark, roots, and berries, are cut or broken into small pieces (imagine making soup); submerged in cold water; and simmered in an uncovered, non-metallic pot until the amount of liquid is reduced by about half. Depending on the plant material, a covered pot may be called for in order to preserve volatile oils. The ratio of herbs to water is initially half: one-half ounce dried herb or one ounce fresh herbs to one cup water — but after reduction, the proportions are the same as those for an infusion.

After cooling, the decoction is strained into a pitcher or jar (not metallic or plastic), covered, and stored in the refrigerator for up to three days.

According to Michael Tierra in The Way of Herbs (Pocket, 1990), the standard medicinal dose for either an infusion or decoction is one-half to one cup taken three times a day. He advises that "frequent small doses of two to three tablespoons (taken every half hour) are more effective than a few large doses when treating acute ailments."

Tinctures use alcohol rather than hot water to extract the active constituents from herbs. In Herbal Preparations and Natural Therapies (Morningstar, 1989), Debra Nuzzi St. Claire recommends using 100 proof vodka, which is readily available and is equal to the required solution of 50 percent alcohol and 50 percent water. The standard ratio is four ounces of herb to one pint of alcohol. The herb should be finely cut or powdered, placed in a clean glass jar. Initially, it is best to work with dried herbs in making tinctures, as it can be cumbersome to achieve the correct ratio with fresh herbs, which take up more space.

After pouring the alcohol over the herb, the jar is tightly covered. Shake the container for a minute or two each day. St. Claire notes that frequent shaking allows for optimum distribution. She says it also imbues the tincture with your energy.

At the end of two weeks, strain the tincture through cheesecloth, a jelly bag, or a coffee filter. If you happen to have a wine press, you could use that. "It is best to put up one’s tincture on the new moon and strain it off on the full moon so that the drawing power of the waxing moon will help extract the herbal properties," suggests Tierra. Store herbal tinctures in dark glass bottles away from heat and light.

Tinctures are very concentrated, so a dose may be only a few drops or a teaspoon or two rather than a cupful. They can be decanted into smaller bottles, making daily doses easy to transport.

Concentrate!

Syrups may be made in several ways. An infusion, decoction, or tincture can be added to a syrup base of honey or refined sugar boiled down with water to a thickened consistency. If an infusion or a decoction is used, its ratio is one to one with the syrup. If a tincture is used the ratio is one part tincture to three parts syrup. John Lust, in The Herb Book (Bantam, 1974), provides a basic syrup recipe: boil three pounds of raw or brown sugar in one pint of water until sugar dissolves and the desired consistency is achieved. Alternatively, the original infusion or decoction can be boiled down to a more concentrated form before being added to a sugar or honey-based syrup. Some recipes recommend heating herbs in the honey or sugar base and then straining; I think this would be unnecessarily messy.

Ointments or salves may be made adding powdered herbs to petroleum jelly, or by melting petroleum jelly, adding herbs, and then straining. Personally, I think that if one is going to go through the trouble of making an ointment oneself, a vegetable-based product would be much more desirable. My preference, then, would be to begin with vegetable oil. Olive oil is a fine choice, as it is very stable. For a more solid end product (lip balms for example), almond oil or coconut oil is appropriate. Oils may be infused with herbs by either a cold or hot method.

Cold infused oils are made much like sun tea (though the preparation time is two to six weeks rather than hours). Pack herbs in a glass jar, covering completely with oil and set in a sunny spot (using heat accelerates the process). Place oil and chopped or powdered herbs in the top of a double boiler and simmer for two to three hours. Debra St. Claire recommends using a crock pot and a candy thermometer to control the temperature, heating the oil to between 80 and 100 degrees. She cooks her herbal oils for about twelve hours. General proportions for hot or cold infused oils are approximately one part dried herb or two parts fresh herb to three parts oil.

Strain the herbal oil, as for a decoction, then pour it back into the pot. This time the oil needs to be heated to at least 148.4 degrees in order to melt the beeswax thickener (it is best to begin with less beeswax and slowly add more.) Add about one to one-and-a-half ounces of chopped or grated beeswax per pint of oil. St. Claire suggests testing the final consistency by pouring a small amount into a jar. Add more beeswax if necessary. Within moments you can judge what your final results will be. Just before pouring the finished product, add one drop tincture of Benzoin per ounce of oil to act as a natural preservative.

Keeping detailed notes as you work allows you to repeat your successes and relegate your failures to the realm of valuable experience. When you’re done, you have bottled a bit of harvest. Just the thing for a gray November day.

DISCLAIMER: Choosing a holistic approach to medicine means choosing personal responsibility for your health care. Herbs for Health offers a doorway through which to enter the realm of herbal healing, an invitation to further investigation on the part of the reader. It is in no way intended as a substitute for advice from a health care practitioner.

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