The Herbarium
Printables

Part VIII

Medicinal teas

29 traditional cups from the catalog. Kitchen herbs belong here on purpose. These are recipes, not prescriptions — steep, sip, and know when to stop.

Chamomile tea tray on cream paper

29 of 29 cups

Infusion8–10 minutes, covered

Evening chamomile cup

A gentle close to the day when the mind will not sit down.

Apple-hay, a thread of lavender, lemon-green if you added balm.

Ratio
1–2 tsp dried chamomile, pinch of lavender, a few lemon-balm leaves · 8 oz just-off-boil

Warm the cup. Chamomile first, lavender as a pinch — more turns soapy — lemon-balm if you have it fresh. Cover so the oil stays in the drink. One cup an hour before bed. Not a second pot.

insomniaanxietyindigestion

Safety warnings

  • Asteraceae allergy
  • Before driving if you are new to the blend

Good to know

A habit, not a hypnotic. Persistent insomnia needs a clinician.

Kitchen cup5 minutes, covered

After-dinner mint

Settle a heavy meal — gas, quease, the too-full feeling.

Peppermint is menthol-cool; spearmint is sweeter and kinder to some stomachs.

Ratio
A small handful of fresh peppermint or spearmint · 8 oz

Fresh leaf if you have it. Peppermint for a spicy meal; spearmint if peppermint gives you reflux. A few crushed fennel seeds in the same cup if the problem is gas. Cover, 5 minutes. Not both mint and ginger if you already run hot.

indigestionbloatingnausea

Safety warnings

  • GERD (peppermint especially)
  • Hiatal hernia if mint worsens the burn

Good to know

Recurrent pain, black stool, or trouble swallowing is not a mint problem.

DecoctionSimmer 10–15 minutes

Ginger-lemongrass kettle

Warm a chilled, queasy, or first-scratch-cold body.

Hot citrus-pine ginger, lemon-zest grass, a little sweet if you add honey after it cools.

Ratio
6–8 thin slices fresh ginger, 1 smashed lemongrass stalk · 12 oz water

Slice ginger. Smash the lemongrass bulb. Simmer, do not just steep — ginger wants time. Lemon verbena can stand in for lemongrass, added off the heat. Honey after it is drinkable, never for infants.

nauseacoldfeverindigestion

Safety warnings

  • Gallstones in medicinal ginger amounts
  • Infants (honey)
  • Late pregnancy in strong decoction without advice

Good to know

Motion sickness: sip warm, not a quart. A fever that lasts or a stiff neck is not this kettle.

Infusion10 minutes, covered; honey after

Thyme-and-honey chest cup

A short, warm cup for a wet or rattling cough — not pneumonia.

Savory-medicinal, lemon-pepper, honey rounding the thymol.

Ratio
1 tsp dried thyme · 8 oz · honey to taste once warm, not boiling

Thyme covered 10 minutes. Honey when it will not kill the enzymes. If the cough is dry and scratchy, a strained mullein or cold marshmallow cup is kinder than more thyme. This is two or three cups a day, not a gallon.

coughsore throatcongestion

Safety warnings

  • Infants (honey)
  • Whooping, blood, or breath that will not come — that is a clinic

Good to know

Unstrained mullein hairs scratch the throat. Cloth, twice.

Infusion10 minutes, covered

Linden night blossom

A honeyed European street-tree tea for a tense evening or a dry, tight cold.

Honey, linden, faint mucilage — June in a cup.

Ratio
1 tbsp dried blossom with bract · 8 oz

Blossom and the pale bract together. Cover. Chamomile can share the pot. Street trees may be sprayed — pick from a tree you trust, or buy dried tilleul.

anxietyinsomniacoldsore throat

Safety warnings

  • Unverified roadside trees
  • Known Tilia allergy (rare)

Good to know

Dry the same day you pick or it smells of hay.

Infusion10–15 minutes

Spring nettle pot

A mineral green tea from young tops — food-like, not a miracle cleanse.

Spinach, green tea, a clean mineral finish. The sting does not survive the kettle.

Ratio
A packed cup of young fresh tops, or 2 tbsp dried · 12 oz

Gloves for fresh nettle. Young tops only. A lid. Dandelion leaf makes it bitterer and more draining; chickweed is a cooler spring add. Daily through a known pollen season is the old hay-fever use — start before the pollen, not during the sneeze.

fatigueallergieswater retention

Safety warnings

  • Roadside and dog-walk greens
  • Lithium (theoretical with nettle) without advice

Good to know

This is a food tea. It does not replace iron studies if you are actually anemic.

Infusion10 minutes, then chill if you like

Hibiscus cooler

A tart, ruby cold-weather or summer cup — pleasant, not a blood-pressure drug.

Cranberry-sour, floral, deep red. Sweetens honestly with orange or honey.

Ratio
1–2 tbsp dried roselle calyces · 12 oz

Calyces, just-off-boil, 10 minutes. A shard of cinnamon or a few rosehips if you have them. Delicious iced. If you take blood-pressure medicine, this is a beverage to mention, not a second drug.

high blood pressurefatigue

Safety warnings

  • Pregnancy in strong daily pots without advice
  • On antihypertensives without the prescriber knowing you drink it daily

Good to know

The color is the plant, not food dye. Enamel cups stain; that is fine.

Infusion10 minutes, covered

Fennel after-meal

Sweet seed tea for bloating and cramp after a heavy plate.

Sweet licorice, warm green anise.

Ratio
1 tsp crushed fennel seed · 8 oz

Crush the seed. Cover. Dill or coriander seed can stand in. Chewing ½ tsp of seed is the older, drier method. Do not forage a feathery umbel you cannot name — hemlock is in the toxic drawer.

bloatingindigestioncramps

Safety warnings

  • Hormone-sensitive disease at high extract dose
  • Unidentified wild Apiaceae

Good to know

Kitchen seed from a jar you trust. Not a wild-carrot adventure.

Infusion8 minutes, covered

Tulsi afternoon

A pepper-clove adaptogen cup for a frayed, foggy middle of the day.

Clove, pepper, sweet basil — Krishna types run hotter.

Ratio
1 tsp dried holy basil, or a few fresh sprigs · 8 oz

Cover to keep the eugenol. Lemon balm softens it; gotu kola makes it greener and more bitter. Afternoon, not a midnight pot if it brightens you. Weeks, not a single heroic mug.

anxietybrain fogfatigue

Safety warnings

  • Trying to conceive / fertility treatment without advice (tulsi folklore is mixed)
  • Before a very late bedtime if it wakes you

Good to know

This is not coffee and not a deadline drug.

DecoctionSimmer 10–20 minutes; strain well

Rosehip winter

A tart, vitamin-C-leaning red tea from frost-softened hips.

Tart apple-berry, faint tomato, a little tannin.

Ratio
1–2 tbsp chopped dried hips · 12 oz

Chop or crush. Simmer. Strain through cloth — the inner seed hairs itch the gut. A hibiscus calyx makes it redder. After the first frost the fresh hip sweetens. Not a flu treatment; a winter pot.

coldfatigue

Safety warnings

  • People who cannot tolerate the seed hairs if you skip the strain

Good to know

Split and scoop, or buy already cleaned dried hips.

Cold infusion4–8 hours in cold water

Marshmallow cold cup

A slippery, almost flavorless coat for a raw throat or irritated gut — mucilage, not spice.

Mild, sweet-vegetal, distinctly slippery.

Ratio
1 tbsp chopped dried root in a jar of cold water, then strain

Cold water pulls mucilage better than a rolling boil. Overnight on the counter is traditional. Plantain or self-heal can be a short hot gargle on the side. Separate from other medicines by an hour — the slime can slow absorption.

coughsore throatindigestion

Safety warnings

  • Taking other oral drugs in the same swallow

Good to know

If you boil it you get a different, thinner tea. Cold is the point.

DecoctionSimmer 45–90 minutes; re-simmer the slices once

Reishi evening decoction

A bitter wood cup for a long recovery, not a fever rescue.

Bitter varnish and dark wood. Honey is allowed. It will never be dessert.

Ratio
3–5 thin slices dried conk · 16 oz, reduced

Slice, simmer, be patient. Shiitake in the last 20 minutes if you want food in the pot. Poria cubes are a traditional quiet add. This is weeks of evenings, not a midnight panic.

fatigueinsomnialow immunityanxiety

Safety warnings

  • Organ transplant
  • Bleeding disorders at high dose
  • Trying to make it taste like chamomile

Good to know

Mycelium-on-grain powders are mostly starch. Use a real conk or a dual extract you trust.

Kitchen cupSimmer 8–10 minutes

Golden kitchen cup

Food-level turmeric and ginger in milk or oat milk — an anti-inflammatory habit, not an NSAID.

Earth, mustard, ginger heat, the pepper waking the turmeric.

Ratio
½ tsp turmeric, a few slices ginger, pinch of black pepper, fat (milk or coconut) · 8 oz

Turmeric needs fat and a little pepper to be more than yellow water. Ginger and a cinnamon stick if you like. Daily food, not a 2-tablespoon extract. Stains the mug; that is the plant.

joint paininflammationindigestion

Safety warnings

  • On anticoagulants at high extract dose without the prescriber
  • Gallstones (strong ginger)

Good to know

Yellow fingers and a yellow spoon are expected. This does not replace a rheumatologist.

Infusion8 minutes, covered

Hops and catnip bitter

A greener, more bitter night cup when chamomile is too polite.

Green-resin hops, lemon-mint catnip. Not a dessert.

Ratio
A pinch of hops, 1 tsp catnip · 8 oz

Hops are strong — a pinch, not a handful, or it is a pillow and a stomach-ache. Catnip is the body of the cup. Passionflower if the mind is circular. One cup. Not before you need to drive.

insomniaanxietycramps

Safety warnings

  • Depression that deepens with hops (some people)
  • Before driving
  • Pregnancy without advice

Good to know

The cats will find the tin. A lid that latches is part of the recipe.

Infusion10 minutes

Raspberry-leaf pot

A pleasant astringent women’s tea with a long midwifery folklore — not a labor plan.

Green tea, faint berry, clean tannin.

Ratio
1 tbsp dried young leaf · 8–10 oz

Young unsprayed leaf. Rose or red clover blossom can join. Late-pregnancy use is folklore and belongs in a conversation with a midwife or OB, not a blog. Fruit is dessert, not this tea.

crampsdiarrheasore throat

Safety warnings

  • Early pregnancy without clinician agreement
  • Sprayed ornamental canes

Good to know

Astringent means it can bind a loose stool. That is the tannin, not magic.

Infusion10 minutes, then cool

Sage gargle

A dry, aromatic rinse for a scratchy throat — spit or a small swallow, not a pint.

Camphor, eucalyptus, velvety bitter.

Ratio
1 tsp dried garden sage · 8 oz; gargle

Steep, cool enough not to burn. Gargle and spit. A little thyme or self-heal can join. Culinary sage, not Salvia divinorum. Do not drink this as a daily quart — thujone is why.

sore throatcough

Safety warnings

  • Pregnancy in medicinal tea amounts
  • A marathon internal course
  • Confusing it with S. divinorum

Good to know

If the throat has pus, high fever, or you cannot swallow water, skip the gargle and get seen.

Kitchen cup5 minutes, covered

Rosemary focus cup

A resinous kitchen tea for a dull head and cold hands — food-like, not a nootropic.

Pine, camphor, lemon peel. Over-steeped it turns harsh.

Ratio
1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary, or ½ tsp dried · 8 oz

A kitchen sprig is enough. Cover 5 minutes, not 20. Peppermint brightens it; tulsi makes it a longer afternoon. Do not drink the essential oil. Culinary leaf is the cup.

brain fogpoor circulation

Safety warnings

  • Seizure disorder (concentrated oil — this cup is leaf only)
  • Pregnancy in medicinal — not food — amounts

Good to know

If you cook with it daily, this is the same plant in water. That is the crossover.

DecoctionSimmer 15–20 minutes

Elderberry winter kettle

A dark, tart pot for the first scratch of a cold — food-like, not an antiviral claim.

Blackberry-tart, ginger heat, bakery-spice. Honey after it is drinkable.

Ratio
1 tbsp dried elderberries, 3 slices ginger, a cinnamon shard · 12 oz

Berries, not leaves or bark — those are a different, harsher drug. Simmer, strain. Ginger and cinnamon are the kitchen spine. This is a few days of a scratchy throat, not a week of high fever. Cooked berry food is the long record; raw berry can upset the gut.

coldflusore throat

Safety warnings

  • Uncooked berries in quantity
  • Leaves, stems, or bark as tea
  • Infants (honey)

Good to know

A fever that lasts, a stiff neck, or breath that will not come is not this kettle.

Kitchen cupSimmer 15 minutes

Garlic-and-thyme kettle

A short, savory kitchen broth when a cold is coming in — food, not a penicillin.

Soup, not tea. Garlic sweetens as it simmers; thyme is the antiseptic edge.

Ratio
2 crushed garlic cloves, a thyme sprig, a pinch of oregano · 12 oz; salt

Crush garlic, wait a minute, then simmer with thyme. Oregano if you have the dried pizza jar. Chives at the end for a greener bowl. Honey and lemon after it is not boiling. This is supper, not a capsule.

coldcongestioncough

Safety warnings

  • The hours before a social kiss you care about
  • Reflux that garlic always worsens

Good to know

Raw garlic shots are a fad. The cooked clove is the kitchen medicine.

Kitchen cup5 minutes, covered

Sweet basil after-supper

A clove-green cup after a tomato-heavy plate — cooling, not a sleep drug.

Anise-clove, green, sweeter than pesto. Lemon balm if you want it quieter.

Ratio
A small handful of fresh sweet basil · 8 oz

Fresh leaf, torn, covered so the oil stays in the drink. Sweet basil, not tulsi — that is another plate. Tarragon is a French stand-in if the basil bolted. One cup. Not the essential oil.

indigestionbloatinganxiety

Safety warnings

  • Essential oil internally
  • A basil you cannot tell from holy basil if you wanted the other cup

Good to know

If the plant flowered and turned bitter, make pesto instead.

Kitchen cup5–8 minutes

Parsley green cup

A mineral, slightly peppery pot after a salty meal — food-like, not a kidney cleanse.

Green, chlorophyll, a little celery-pepper. Dandelion leaf makes it bitterer.

Ratio
A packed handful of flat-leaf parsley · 10 oz

Flat-leaf if you have it. A lid. Dandelion is optional and draining. This is a bunch from the crisper, not seed or oil — those are pregnancy-caution drugs. Garden parsley only; wild Apiaceae include the toxic drawer.

indigestionwater retention

Safety warnings

  • Pregnancy in medicinal seed/oil amounts
  • Unidentified wild carrot-family greens

Good to know

If your ankles are swollen for a medical reason, this cup is not the workup.

DecoctionSimmer 10 minutes

Bay after-beans

The soup leaf, drunk as a short cup after a heavy, bean-y plate.

Warm pine-clove, a little bitter. One leaf is a meal; three is a forest.

Ratio
1 dried bay leaf, a pinch of fennel or coriander seed · 10 oz

True Laurus nobilis, not mountain laurel. Simmer the leaf with crushed fennel or coriander seed. Fish the leaf out — it is a shard. This is the same leaf that sat in the beans, drunk on purpose.

indigestionbloating

Safety warnings

  • Any ‘laurel’ that is not L. nobilis
  • Chewing the leaf

Good to know

If the neighbor’s shrub is the wrong laurel, it belongs in the toxic drawer, not this kettle.

Infusion10 minutes, covered

Calendula petal cup

A golden, slightly peppery flower tea for a scratchy throat or a dull, irritated gut.

Resin, pepper, faint marigold. Chamomile rounds it if you find it harsh.

Ratio
1–2 tsp dried pot-marigold petals · 8 oz

Petals of Calendula officinalis, not a landscaping marigold you cannot name. Cover. A sip, or a cooled compress on a small irritated patch — not an open wound protocol. Asteraceae allergy is the stop sign.

sore throatirritable skinindigestion

Safety warnings

  • Asteraceae allergy
  • Pregnancy in strong daily pots without advice

Good to know

The orange is the resin, not food dye. It will tint the cup.

Infusion8 minutes, covered

Marjoram night

A sweeter oregano cousin for a tense, over-full evening — quieter than hops.

Floral, pine, a little camphor, no pizza-heat.

Ratio
1 tsp dried sweet marjoram · 8 oz

Sweet marjoram, not oregano, unless you want a hotter cup. A pinch of lavender — more turns soapy. Lemon balm if the gut is part of the tension. One cup. Culinary leaf, not oil.

anxietyinsomniaindigestion

Safety warnings

  • Essential oil internally
  • Before driving if you are new to the blend

Good to know

If all you have is the pizza jar, that is oregano — see the thyme-and-honey cup instead.

Kitchen cup8 minutes, covered

Cardamom after-chai

A short, camphor-lemon spice cup after coffee or a sweet — digestion, not a latte recipe.

Eucalyptus-lemon, bakery-warm if you add cinnamon. Crush the pod or it stays shy.

Ratio
3 crushed green pods, optional cinnamon shard, optional ginger slice · 8 oz

Crack the green pods. Cover. Cinnamon and ginger if you want chai without the tea leaf. Chewing one seed is the older, drier method. Black cardamom is a different, smoky spice — not this cup.

indigestionbloatingnauseabad breath

Safety warnings

  • Essential oil internally
  • Gallstones in very large spice amounts without advice

Good to know

This is pantry spice in water. If you already drank a quart of milky chai, you have had enough.

Kitchen cup8 minutes, covered, in warm (not rolling) water or milk

Saffron evening pinch

A golden, hay-honey cup when the mood is thin — a kitchen pinch, not a clinic dose.

Honey, hay, a faint metal. Milk makes it a different, rounder drink.

Ratio
A small pinch of threads (10–15) · 8 oz

Warm the liquid. Crush the threads in a spoon first. Cover. A pinch is a pot; a teaspoon is not this cup. Optional cracked cardamom if you want chai without the leaf.

low moodanxietyindigestion

Safety warnings

  • Pregnancy in medicinal amounts
  • Colchicum or any unnamed ‘autumn crocus’ tea

Good to know

This is food coloring with a reputation. Persistent low mood needs a clinician, not a gram of threads.

Cold infusionMix cold first, then top with hot water and rest 5 minutes

Slippery elm gruel

Coat a raw throat or an irritated gut — bland, slippery, a recovery food more than a flavor.

Maple-bland, mucilaginous. Cinnamon is how people finish it.

Ratio
1 tsp powdered inner bark · 8 oz

Slurry the powder in a little cold water so it does not clump. Add hot water or milk to a thin porridge. Sip. Take other medicines an hour apart. Cultivated powder only.

sore throatcoughindigestion

Safety warnings

  • Wild-stripped elm bark
  • Swallowing dry powder by the spoon

Good to know

A soothe, not an antibiotic. Fever, blood, or a throat that will not open is not an elm problem.

DecoctionSimmer 10–15 minutes

Five-flavor berry kettle

A sour tonic after a long week — fatigue and a dry, tickly cough in one puckering cup.

Sour first, then sweet-bitter, a little salt. Honey is allowed.

Ratio
1 tsp dried schisandra berries · 10 oz water

Simmer the berries. Ginger if the sour needs a back. Honey after it comes off the heat. Morning or afternoon — it brightens some people at night.

fatiguecoughinsomniabrain fog

Safety warnings

  • GERD if sour is a problem
  • Acute feverish illness in some traditional systems
  • Pregnancy without advice

Good to know

Wǔ wèi zǐ is a gatherer, not a dessert. If you already ran on coffee until midnight, this is not a third stimulant.

Infusion5 minutes, covered

Mugwort after-roast

A short bitter after fat meat — digestion folklore, not a dream protocol and not a daily pot.

Camphor, sage, a little hedge. A sip is the point.

Ratio
½ tsp dried mugwort · 8 oz

A small pinch. Fennel seed if the problem is gas. Not wormwood, not a handful, not in pregnancy. One short cup after a heavy plate.

indigestionbloatingcramps

Safety warnings

  • Pregnancy
  • Seizure disorder
  • A daily mugwort kettle

Good to know

The dream-pillow is folklore. This cup is a bitter. Thujone is why it stays occasional.

Looking for doses and household protocols? Open Natural remedies. Kitchen plants are in Kitchen herbs & fungi.