3 Minute Read
During the warmer seasons, it’s pretty rare to constantly be brewing those piping hot cups of herbal teas, but you may still desire the medicinal benefits that tea can offer (just maybe without the extra warmth). Now that it’s springtime, I often coach my clients to make a subtle switch in how they’re making their teas from hot infusions to overnight infusions and consumed either room temperate or slightly chilled on the extra warm days. One of the most underused ways to make an herbal infusion is to steep a tea overnight, in just room temperature water to create a delicious, highly medicinal overnight infusion. These work particularly well for the springtime herbs that you’ll see popping out like hawthorn, nettles, dandelion, burdock, lavenders and chamomile!
I’ve already started making a few overnight infusions this spring and I love how refreshing, nutritive and grounding they make me feel (and you can even transform these infusions into midday herbal mocktails too!). Here are some of my favorite overnight infusion combinations:
- Hibiscus + Lavender - steeped overnight. Strain in the morning and add a squeeze of lemon and sparkling water for a refreshing, bright red “lemonade”. I use 3 tbsp of each infused in a large 1 quart mason jar, cover with room temperature water and left to steep overnight.
- Hawthorn + Nettles + Astragalus - steeped overnight. Strain in the morning and add 1tsp honey and a squeeze of lemon for great immune supporting tea! I use 3 heaping tbsp hawthorn and astragalus root + 1/4 cup nettle infused in a large 1 quart mason jar, cover with room temperature water and left to steep overnight.
- Calendula + Alfalfa + Dandelion leaf - steeped overnight. Strain in the morning and mix with sparkling water and 1 tsp honey for a gentle, nutrient rich cleanse. I use 3 heaping tbsp of each infused in a large 1 quart mason jar, cover with room temperature water and left to steep overnight.
Overnight infusions are ideally done with the above ground parts of the herbs (like leaves, flowers, stems and seeds). The below ground portions (roots and rhizomes) do not extract very well without a longer steeping time or a concentrated decoction. However when you’re steeping overnight (at least 6 hours), you’re still getting lots of the medicinal constituents with the long steep, so don’t be discouraged to use them!
Overnight infusions are simply the longer version of making a hot tea. When herbs are placed in warm/hot water, the extraction process is speeded up, allowing most of the water soluble medicinal constituents to be extracted quickly. When allowed to steep for 6-8 hours in just room temperature water, the same water soluble constituents are extracted, just over a longer amount of time resulting the same medicinal benefits with a cooler, more refreshing beverage. You can use the same ratios or amount of tea you would normally use (I tend towards stronger infusions so I use heavier hand) but you can experiment and see what amount is perfect for you.
In the summer, try solar infusions where you let the herbs infuse outdoors and let the sun warm the water. This also works for infusing oils if you like a homemade calendula infused apricot oil or a nettle infused olive oil for topical use!
You can purchase herbs in bulk at your local health food store (Ellwood Thompson's has all of these!). Have fun with your experiments and see which ones really hit the spot for you in each season.
