Making Infusions – Supplies Needed 3

Now that I have collected a few items, I will go over some basic supplies that are needed when making water and oil infusions.

Water infusions – I have decided to make my water infusion with Double Green Matcha Tea; I cut open four of the tea bags and used approximately 6 fluid ounces of water. I am planning on using this infusion today in a batch of soap, so there is no need for any storage of leftovers. When I want to use of this type of infusion I will just make a very strong cup of tea.

Supplies for Water Infusions
• Water
• Tea or other plant material desired
• Stirring spoon or similar tool
• Strainer – tea bags may also be used
• Method of heating the water: microwave, tea kettle, etc.
• Freezer storage container, if needed

Oil infusions – I am starting with some basic glass jars, the dried plant material and my oil of choice today (apricot kernel oil). I have chosen several of the dried botanicals available in the catalog; they are Annatto Seed Powder, Ground Hibiscus, Safflower Powder, Madder Root Powder, and Spirulina Powder.

Do you remember the ratio when making tinctures? We’re using the same ratio for making oil infusions! 9 parts oil and 1 part dried plant. You can weigh 10 grams of plant material and 90 grams of oil to make these. I placed each dried herb into its own jar and added the oil and stirred well. I microwaved for about 30 seconds each of these jars. I did make a quick infusion today and used it immediately. That infusion is the paprika oil. I allowed this to infuse for a few minutes (about 3) before adding it to a batch of soap. The color finished to a pale orange, very beautiful.

The others powders I let sit for about 1 week before filtering and bottling into 4 fl oz bottles, as shown in the photos. All I did was strain the oil through a fine strainer directly into these bottles, capped, and labeled for future use.

Supplies for Oil Infusions
• Oil
• Dried Herb
• Stirring spoon or similar tool
• Method of heating the oil: microwave, tea kettle, etc.
• Strainer
• Containers and labels for storage

The photos show the tinctures I bottled into sprayer bottles, the oil infusions I bottled into 4 oz bottles with disk tops and the Matcha Green Tea soap I made with the tea infusion. I added the lye directly to the tea infusion and that is what caused the very dark color. It lightened in the finished soap dramatically! The last photo shows the soap weeping the glycerin and tea infusion. This was just stirred back in prior to the soap setting up completely.

Tomorrow I am showing some of the soaps I made with these dried herbs. Then we will make the soaps and other products with the tinctures, infusions and LEARN how to make decoctions. We have some busy days ahead. Get out your plant materials (make sure they are dry) and create a few infusions of your own. See you tomorrow!