Herbal Infusions & Decoctions: A Guide to Brewing Herbal Teas

There's a version of herbalism that gets tangled up in Latin names, herbal actions, and precise measurements before it ever lets you enjoy a cup of tea. This isn't that. Infusions and decoctions are two of the simplest, most forgiving ways to work with plants, and once you understand the difference, you'll never look at a mug of tea the same way again. 

This is an intimate look at brewing herbal teas (often called tisanes). Here you'll learn what separates an infusion from a decoction, how to know which one a given herb calls for, and how to make both at home.

Here you'll find:

• What Is An Herbal Infusion? Decoction?
• How to Know Which Method to Use
  
• Cold Infusions
• Hot Infusions
• Solar Infusions
• Herbal Decoctions
• Using More Than One Method
• Hot Tips & FAQs

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What Is An Herbal Infusion? Decoction?

Herbal infusions and decoctions are, very simply, water-based herbal extractions.

Plants give up their good stuff, flavor, nutrients, aromatic oils, beneficial compounds, into all kinds of liquids. Alcohol pulls one set of different plant compounds. Think herbal tinctures and sweetened cordials. Oil pulls another. Think lavender body oils or infused culinary oils. Vinegar has its own gift for extraction. Think fire cider or even a homemade cleaning spray made with citrus peel-infused vinegar.

When it comes to water-based herbal extractions, there are two basic types:

• Infusions (including cold infusions, hot infusions, and solar (passive) infusions)
• Decoctions

How to Know Which Method to Use: Infusion or Decoction

Three things determine which method fits best:

• What part of the plant are you using? Light and fluffy leaves and flowers are quite different than much denser roots, bark, or berries. More on this below.
• How are you intending to use it? An infusion of cinnamon bark makes a nice gentle tea to sip on, but a decoction of cinnamon bark pulls more out of it and intensifies the flavor. Same herb, different result depending on the method.
• What do you have on hand? A decoction needs a stove and time to simmer, an infusion doesn't.

Water-Based Herbal Infusions

Infusions can be further split into three categories:

• Cold infusions
• Hot infusions
• Solar infusions

What unites all three, and what separates infusions from decoctions, is what you never boil or simmer the herbs. You just let water, at whatever temperature, do the work.

Cold Infusions

A cold infusion is exactly what it sounds like: herbs steeped in cold or room-temperature water instead of hot. It takes far longer than a hot infusion, but the payoff is sometimes a more pleasant, less bitter tasting cup of tea, and for some herbs, better preservation of heat-sensitive compounds (like vitamin C in hibiscus).

• When to make a cold water infusion: Generally softer plant material, non-waxy leaves, flowers, and soft fruits. There are a few exceptions, like marshmallow root: its soothing, slimy mucilage is heat sensitive, so a cold infusion is best.
  
  
• Time: 8-12 hours, typically overnight
  
  
• How to make a cold herbal infusion:

1. 1. Add about 4 tablespoons of your herbs or loose-leaf tea blend to a quart-sized glass jar (or a reusable tea bag so there's nothing to strain later.)
   2. Fill the jar with cold water and cap it.
   3. Pop it in the refrigerator 8-12 hours or overnight.
   4. Strain and enjoy. Refrigerate any portion you're not sipping on and drink within 5-7 days.

→ Try this: Our hibiscus-forward, bestselling blend Disco Nap is the best tea for a cold infusion. Hibiscus carries a good amount of vitamin C, and that vitamin C holds up noticeably better when it isn't exposed to heat, so a cold infusion gets you more of it than a hot cup would.

Hot Infusions

This is the method behind most tea, herbal or otherwise: hot water poured over herbs, steeped for several minutes.

• When to make a hot water infusion: Leaves and flowers, mainly. Although, denser material like roots, bark, or fruits can work too if it's finely cut or powdered first.
  
  
• Time: Anywhere from 3-5 minutes for true teas (like white, green, or black) to 8-15 minutes for herbal teas, depending on how strong you like it
  
  
• How to make a hot water infusion:

1. 1. Add 1-3 teaspoons of herbs to a strainer or tea bag, set in your mug.
   2. Pour 8-12 ounces of hot water (just under a boil) over the herbs and cover.
   3. Steep for 3-5 minutes if making green, black, or white teas, or up to 15 minutes if making herbal tea.
   4. Remove the herbs, squeeze out excess water, and then sip away.

• Why you should cover your teas while they steep: Always keep a lid or even a small plate over your cup while it steeps. Aromatic compounds and essential oils can escape with the steam, and those compounds and oils often carry a good share of the herb's benefits.

→ Try this: Any tea in our collection is built for a hot infusion. Browse our organic, loose-leaf herbal teas made with herbs grown by small farms in the USA.

Solar Infusions (Sun Tea)

Solar infusion is the sun doing the work a kettle usually does. Water and herbs go into a large glass jar with a loose lid, and the jar sits in a sunny window, yard, or porch for a few hours while the light gently warms it.

I love this method for how it looks as much as anything else. There's something about a big glass jar catching afternoon light, tea bag strings hanging over the rim, that belongs to a particular kind of summer memory. If you grew up with a family member who made sun tea, you know exactly the image I mean.

• A precaution worth knowing: Solar infusions don't reach a temperature high enough, for long enough, to reliably kill bacteria that might be present on plant material. This risk is small, but it's real, so a few precautions matter here:
  • Use a clean, sanitized jar
  • Cap the infusion time at 4 hours
  • Refrigerate immediately after straining
  • Drink within 2-3 days
    
    
• When to make sun tea (solar infusion): Same as a hot infusion, leaves, flowers, or finely processed roots, bark, or fruit
  
  
• Time: About 4 hours, up to 8 at the most
  
  
• How to make sun tea:

1. 1. Add 1-2 cups of fresh chopped herbs (or 1/2-3/4 cup dried) to a quart-sized jar.
   2. Fill with water.
   3. Set the jar somewhere warm and sunny.
   4. Let it infuse 4-8 hours, then strain and drink right away.
      
   5. Refrigerate leftovers and finish within 2-3 days. If the color, smell, or taste shifts oddly, discard it.

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Herbal Decoctions

Only one type of decoction, and the difference from an infusion is simple: a decoction gets simmered, not just steeped. Instead of pouring hot water over the herbs, you cook the herbs and water together over gentle heat.

Decoctions are reserved for the denser plant material that need a little extra prolonged heat and agitation (rolling around in simmering water) to extract their compounds, like roots, bark, seeds, and dried fruit.

• When to make an herbal decoction: With roots, bark, seeds, dried fruit, anything else dense enough to resist a simple steep. That said, there are exceptions, like marshmallow root that is best extracted in cold water due to its heat-sensitive soothing mucilage.
  
  
• Time: 20-60 minutes
  
  
• How to make an herbal decoction:

1. 1. Add 3-4 tablespoons of your dried herb, spice, bark, or fruit to a quart-sized pot and fill with water.
   2. Bring to a simmer over medium heat.
   3. Cover and let it gently simmer for 20-60 minutes, lowering the heat if needed to keep it from boiling over.
   4. Remove from heat and let cool with the lid on for about an hour, until it's easy to handle. 
   5. Strain through a fine-mesh strainer lined with cheesecloth into a clean jar.
   6. Drink warm, chilled, or at room temperature. Refrigerate any leftover and finish within 5-7 days.

Note: Putting a lid on your decoction while it gently simmers is important, especially if you're decocting highly aromatic plant parts. The lid will help to keep the volatile oils, the wonderful smelling and highly active biochemicals, from escaping in the steam. Allow the decoction to cool with the lid on as well.

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Using More Than One Water Extraction Method

Some blends call for both methods. You can combine infusions and decoctions when blending teas for specific therapeutic uses. For example, if you're making a tea blend that includes dense roots alongside soft flowers and leaves, and you want the strongest, fullest extraction, decoct the roots first, and once you pull the pot off the heat, add the flowers and leaves in to infuse in that same pot.

Or you can always make the infusion and decoctions separately and combine later.

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Hot Tips & FAQs

• Sweeten it if you want to. Cane sugar, honey, or maple syrup all work well for any infusion or decoction. 

→ Try this: Our herbal honeys are a great way to sweeten your infusions. 

• Start with herbs you trust. The entire point of an extraction is pulling everything out of the plant material into your liquid, including anything the plant was grown with. Herbs grown without synthetic pesticides or fungicides matter here, because you're concentrating whatever's present into a cup of tea you plan to sip on.
  
  
• More ways to use your herbal infusions and decoctions:
  • Drink it hot or iced
  • Freeze into herbal ice pops
  • Use as the water component in homemade lotions or creams
  • Add an equal part sugar to turn any infusion or decoction into an herbal syrup
  • Pour a strong batch into your bathwater for an herbal soak

DISCLAIMER: The information given in this article is intended for educational purposes only.