The small sips of a hot drink, prepared according to a precise ritual, mark the time of the most natural defense against stress.
The "savoring" of an infusion, herbal tea or tea imposes a "calm" sipping that comes from the desire to "taste" the well-being: it is not short like that of coffee, nor long like that of a meditation liquor. The three beverages (infusion, herbal tea and tea) have the same intimate "philosophies", but different characteristics and conditions.
They have, in the same way, the same herbal preparatory concept: a dominant base plant (the one which characterizes the "therapeutic" profile) and other secondary ones (the ones which contribute to give more "power" and taste). These preparations, that is, have a main "actress" plant for the taste, for the herbal characterization and for the quantity used; they also have other vegetable components, with comprimary functions (they are "useful", that is, to achieve a specific purpose), which work to reinforce the result of the main plant, with which they are harmonized for taste and officinal characteristics. Only the infusion, unlike herbal tea and tea, can have flowers and fruits of only one vegetable.
The three beverages differ according to the period of drying, the size of the grinding of the parts used, the infusion time and the way of being put in contact with hot water. The contact and the bath with boiling water (which must penetrate inside them, "pushing" out the active principles anchored inside) is a simple and effective extraction method, if times and ways of infusion are respected. A wrong time produces a different result from the one desired for the well-being!
The cutting of the chosen parts is important because, depending on the flower or leaf or bark or root, it is the size of the shredding that determines a better "theft" of active principles by the hot water. The release of medicinal properties from the green dried product depends, therefore, also on the type and size of the cut.
A principle to be considered, in the preparation of infusions, herbal teas and teas, is the respect of the quantity of green product. It is imperative to use the recommended dose, in order to have a happy agreement of peculiar properties and taste, as well as the indicated preparation time is fundamental, for a complete "extraction" of the phytochemical soul.
The preciousness of the herbal remedy, for the "wellness you drink", is guaranteed by the careful choice of plants and their parts, by the differentiated shredding and drying, by the mixing of the different "green" souls, by the preservation and packaging of the finished product, by the quantity used and, to remember, by the different immersion time, for the infusion, for the herbal tea and for the tea.
Infusion
Infusion is composed only by the tender parts of officinal plants: flowers and fruits, which are chopped by hand and according to precise criteria, for a more rapid and complete "transfer" of the intrinsic properties.
In order to prepare an infusion it is advisable to pour boiling water on the dry vegetable or to put the right quantity of product in the heated water, in a container, with lid, made of glass, ceramic or steel. After having separated the liquid part from the solid one, for some precious infusions (as recommended in the notes), it is advisable to mix the remaining vegetable (after filtering) with natural white yogurt and "taste" it at breakfast.
Herbal Tea
Herbal tea, as opposed to infusion, is made of both the tender and the woody parts of officinal plants, therefore, flowers and leaves, but also fruits, roots, seeds and pieces of bark. Everything must be finely chopped by hand, in order to facilitate the passage of the active principles from the plant to the hot water. Chopping must be done with the typical precautions that herbal medicine imposes: the moment of cutting in respect to the harvesting, the type of drying, the size of the cut parts, the percentage of the single plants and of the different parts of them.
The recommended dose for the preparation of a herbal tea must be dropped in boiling water and left to rest for a maximum time of seven to ten minutes (the exact time is indicated in the instructions). The herbal tea has a base active principle (the vegetable chosen as "cardinal remedy"), which can also be more than one; it has the principles of synergic vegetables (which help the action of the base active principle) and contemplates the use of complementary vegetables (which improve the taste, fragrance or color).
Boiling water must be poured on the dry product, in a container with a lid (in order to keep the steam and preserve the aerial peculiarities) and, only after the indicated infusion time, it must be poured. The result will have a very delicate aroma and a refined and light taste.