Читать книгу Grow Your Own Drugs: A Year With James Wong - James Wong - Страница 33

A decoction is just like a tea, but with plants left to simmer for a while – tougher plant materials like roots, twigs, seeds and bark need a longer cooking time to extract their essential ingredients.

To make a decoction: wash and cut up the roots, twigs or bark to expose a large surface area and make the extraction easier. In a pan, put about 30g chopped fresh plant material (or 15g dried) for every 500ml ofwater. Cover the pan, bring to the boil, then simmer for at least 10 minutes (and up to 30 minutes for tougher roots). Strain before drinking. Decoctions are also used in making lotions and creams, and you can pour them liberally into the bath.

Storage Best drunk the same day. But, as with infusions, you can make up a batch of 3 cups in the morning, store covered in the refrigerator, then reheat as needed to drink throughout the day.