The Herbal Medicine-Maker's Handbook_ A Home Manual - James Green [68]
(King’s decocts for 10 min.; I decoct it 30 min.)
Echinacea root 2–5 Gm: 3x a day
Ginger fresh slices, dry 2–3 Gm in warm water
Mullein root 3–5 Gm: up to 4x a day
Reishi 3–6 Gm: 3x a day
(Decoct 45 minutes.)
Siberian Ginseng 2–4 Gm: 3x a day
Willow bark 2–10 Gm: 3x a day
Yellow Dock root 1–3 Gm: 3x a day
Oil and water aren’t miscible, this fact being the inspiration for one of our culture’s most popular clichés. And while the accuracy of this statement is experienced time after time by most of us in our daily lives, there is a particular situation in which an aromatic volatile oil and water reach out to one another and create a dramatic bond. I know! I know volatile oils aren’t really oils—give me some slack; I’m taking a little license here. The story of this chemical cohesion is a phyto-aqueous enactment of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, wherein the youthful opposites of two ego-immiscible families fall deeply in love and give themselves wholeheartedly to one another within the heat of a steaming social environment. But unlike Shakespeare’s grand finale, wherein Romeo and Juliet choose to leave their uncompromising world and continue their romance in the nonphysical realms, oil and water sustain their affair in an ethereal oneness on this physical plane as a delightfully aesthetic anomaly, and this aromatic coupling is what aromatherapists refer to as a hydrosol or a hydrolate.
A true hydrosol is a particularly pleasant offspring of the steam distillation of aromatic plants. The initial introduction and coupling of water and oil occurs in a heated vessel wherein water as steam ascends, carrying with it volatile oil molecules dissolved from the plant material. The two components of this vaporous blend sustain an ardent embrace until they enter a cooling process, whereupon the oil soluble components separate out once again from the water. However an abiding remembrance of the torrid union forever lingers as the departing aromatic molecules pass on an intimate part of their qualities to the water, and this amiable water maintains a subtly delicious memory of the passionate intimacy of the distillation process being indelibly transformed into an aromatic hydrosol. Therein, simple steam distillation of certain organic material results in the production of two complementary liquid assets: an aromatic volatile oil and a true aromatic hydrosol.
Most volatile oils are derived from plants in which they exist ready formed. Upon completion of the distillation process the distillate is usually milky, and on standing separates, with most of the oil rising to the top, while the water (hydrosol) continues charged to saturation with the oil. Except for Rose water and Orange blossom water, throughout the history of volatile oil production, most hydrosols were disposed of as waste. Only in very recent times have these fascinating waters been valued as carriers of a rarefied form of the volatile oils, coexisting in combination with many mild and soothing water-soluble components of the plant that are not present in volatile oils. And whereas most volatile oils contain bitter substances and some harsh components which if not adequately diluted before application can cause irritation to the inner and outer skin of the body, the complementary hydrosol simply does not. Instead, these lotions present soothing, anti-inflammatory acids and other compounds that gratify the skin, and these agents are exclusive to the singular nature of aromatic hydrosols.
Hydrosols are applied directly to the skin or taken internally, as their flavor is far milder than that of volatile oils; and hydrosols are much safer to drink, provided they have not been derived from a toxic plant. Hydrosols make excellent base waters for preparing syrups, lotions, fomentations, culinary exotica, etc. When applied to the skin, hydrosols are mildly astringent and highly effective tonics to be used daily. Not only are they not drying to the skin, but they pleasantly counteract the drying effects of natural atmospheric conditions, as well as the