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Soul of Herbs

Herbal infusion (tea)

General description of the method; for a specific herb always check suitability, plant part and safety on its card.

Infusion or brief extraction in hot water; usually without long boiling.

Safety in brief: Hot infusion can scald — let it cool for children and watch the steeping strength.
Difficulty:
Easy
Preparation time (rough guide):
About 5–15 minutes active work (infusion).
Equipment:
Teapot, mug or jar; strainer or tea infuser; hot water.
General preparation safety

Very hot drinks can irritate mucous membranes. Some plants need a short extraction, others need simmering — always verify for the exact taxon and source.

More detail

In the narrow sense, "tea" often means an infusion: you pour water just off the boil over the dried plant matter and let it steep for a few minutes. Temperature, steep time, and the herb-to-water ratio change both flavour and what dissolves into the liquid.

Compared with a decoction, heat exposure is shorter and gentler; tender leaves and flowers are often better as an infusion than with prolonged simmering. For each herb, always follow the plant card for suitable plant part, preparation, and safety notes — general rules never replace species-level judgement.

Related methods

Methods are often compared — links below go to the detail page with short context.

Recipes in the catalogue

These herbs have a published step-by-step procedure for this method — full instructions are on the herb card under processing.

Herbs in the catalogue

Published herbs that list this method on the card.

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