HERB - chamomile tea recipes??

[Gaylin Walli]

Mistress Christianna kindly responded to Lady Rosamund's plea, saying:
>You should not boil herbs, as you will loose essential properties
>of the tender vegitation  Let it steep for about 10 minutes, and
>then strain.

This seems to me to be an inordinatley long time to steep flowers
of any plant. As I understand the preparation of herbs and plants,
the general rule of thumb for a standard water-based extraction
teas (useful for skin washes, douches, baths, compresses, lotions,
and gargles) should be

1-3 minutes for flowers
2-5 minutes for leaves
4-10 minutes for bark, roots, and hard seeds (note that there
is a different timing here for decoctions of these parts)

Aside from obtaining a *much* stronger extraction (and in my
opinion, an unpleasantly strong one for chamomile tea) why would
you wish to steep it for so long?

Jasmine de Cordoba, Midrealm
g.walli at infoengine.com or jasmine at infoengine.com

"Si enim alicui placet mea devotio, gaudebo; si autem
nulli placet, memet ipsam tamen juvat quod feci."
-- Hroswith of Gandersheim
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