Dried Herbs
VIRGINIA FARM-BASED APOTHECARY
Bulk Herbs, Without The Bulk
Most places that sell loose herbs sell them by the pound, which is wonderful if you run a clinic and wasteful if you are making one cup at a time. A pound of mullein will outlive its own smell long before you finish it. We pack the same cut-and-sifted herbs in half-ounce and one-ounce sizes so the bag on your shelf is always fresher than the bag you would have finished in three years.
How To Choose A Herb Here
Start with what you want the cup to do, not with the herb name. Below, the shelf is grouped by the job people usually buy them for. Pick one from a group, read its page — every one tells you the amount, the water temperature, the steep time, what it tastes like and which other herbs on this shelf it blends with — then add a second herb once you know the first one.
Quiet evening herbs
The cups people reach for after dinner. Most are mild on their own and better in pairs.
- California Poppy
- Passion Flower
- Lemon Balm
- Catnip Leaf & Flower
- Lavender Buds
- Mugwort
Cold-season & steam herbs
Bowl-of-hot-water-and-a-towel herbs, plus the soft ones that make a steam blend drinkable.
- Mullein Leaf
- Eucalyptus Leaf
- Thyme
- Elderflower
- Hyssop Herb
- Marshmallow Leaf
Kitchen herbs
The cooking shelf. Dried herbs are more concentrated than fresh, so they go in earlier and in smaller amounts.
- Rosemary
- Oregano
- Thyme
- Lemongrass
- Lavender Buds
- Peppermint Leaf
Bright, fruity & citrus
Tart reds and clean lemons. These are the herbs that make an iced pitcher worth making.
- Hibiscus Flowers
- Rose Hips
- Lemon Verbena
- Lemongrass
- Lemon Balm
- Spearmint Leaf
Long-infusion herbs
Herbs that give more to a jar overnight than to a mug in five minutes.
- Nettle Leaf
- Oat Straw
- Marshmallow Leaf
- Mullein Leaf
External use only
These two are never brewed and never swallowed. They belong in infused oils, salves and compresses on unbroken skin.
- Arnica Flowers
- Comfrey Leaf
Blending Your Own, Briefly
A blend usually has three parts. A base that gives the cup body and little flavor — mullein, oat straw, marshmallow leaf, nettle. A lead that carries the taste — peppermint, hibiscus, lemongrass, rose hips. And an accent used at a fraction of the rest — lavender, hyssop, mugwort, rosemary. Three parts base, two parts lead, half a part accent is a starting ratio that almost always works.
Sizes & What You Get- 0.5 oz — the size to try an herb you have never used, or to keep a fast-fading aromatic fresh.
- 1 oz — the size for an herb you already drink or cook with regularly.
- Cut: cut & sifted, screened for dust and oversized stem.
- Contains: one plant. No fillers, no flavoring, no anti-caking agents.
- Packed to order at our Virginia farm-based apothecary.
- Leaves and flowers — 1–2 tsp per 8 oz, water just off the boil, covered, 5–10 minutes.
- Hips, stems and hard material — simmer gently 10–15 minutes instead of steeping.
- Mucilage herbs (marshmallow leaf) — cold infuse in a jar for 4–8 hours.
- Mineral-style long infusions (nettle, oat straw) — a heaped handful in a quart jar overnight.
- Steams — a tablespoon in a bowl of hot water, towel over the head, eyes closed, five minutes.
- Always cover the cup while steeping aromatics, or the good part leaves with the steam.
Keep dried herbs airtight, out of sunlight and away from the heat of the stove. A closed jar in a cupboard beats a beautiful jar on a windowsill every time. Most cut-and-sifted leaf and flower holds its character for about a year; loud aromatics like lemon balm and lemon verbena fade sooner. The honest test is your nose: if it still smells like the plant, it is still good.
Herbs are strong plants and a few of them interact with real medicine. Arnica and comfrey are external use only. St. John’s Wort affects how the body processes a long list of prescription drugs, including hormonal birth control. Several herbs here should be avoided in pregnancy. Sedating herbs do not mix with driving. Every product page carries its own Safety Notes section — please read it, and talk to your pharmacist or prescriber if you take anything regularly.
We are a small apothecary, not a warehouse. We buy botanicals in small lots, smell and taste every batch before it goes on the shelf, and pack to order rather than sitting on inventory. If a lot does not smell like it should, it does not go out. That is most of the difference between a good dried herb and a dull one.
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