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| of tea, use 1 level tsp. of each blend. To brew a pint of tea, combine 2 cups cold water with 2 tsp. of the prickly ash bark/ginger blend, heat to boiling and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes. Remove from heat, add 2 tsp. of the hawthorn berry/gotu kola blend, replace the cover and let stand an additional 10 minutes. Strain and serve. Drink at least 2 cups per day. |
| If you purchase or make a tea containing both types of ingredients, use 1 tsp. of the dry blend per cup and make a beverage-strength decoction, remove the pan from heat and add the same amount again, then cover and let stand 10 minutes. In this way, half the ingredients are properly decocted and half are properly infused. |
| Medicinal herbs can be sweetened with honey to improve their taste or you can add flavors such as black cherry concentrate, molasses, fresh ginger or a pinch of stevia, the sweet herb widely used as a sugar substitute. Most herbalists recommend taking medicinal teas straight, with no added flavors or sweeteners, but they usually take some getting used to. |
| Tinctures |
| To make a tincture, which is a concentrated alcohol extract, fill a glass jar 1/3 to 1/2 full with fresh or dried herbs that you have cut or shredded into small pieces. Cover the herbs with 80-proof or higher proof vodka, rum, brandy or grain alcohol, with a few inches of alcohol above the plant matter. Some recipes call for 1 part plant matter to 4 parts alcohol, but using less alcohol or more plant material results in a more concentrated, medicinal tincture. Cover the jar tightly |
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