A nettle oatstraw infusion is made by pouring boiling water over dried nettle, oatstraw and red clover in a jar and letting it steep overnight, then straining it in the morning. It comes out dark, grassy and closer to a broth than a tea. Serve it warm on a fall morning, or chilled over ice once spring comes around.
Nettle is the herb these infusions are built around, and it has been the standard spring green in European kitchens for as long as there have been European kitchens. The blend here is nettle leaf, oatstraw and red clover blossoms. Start it tonight and strain it in the morning.
Why You Will Love This
The liquid turns deep green and tastes grassy and faintly sweet. Spring is the season to drink it daily. Pair it with our magnesium drink recipe for evening calm.
The Story Behind It
Western herbalists have long used nutritive infusions as everyday nourishment, especially when the seasons change. The long steep makes the difference. Five minutes gives you a pale yellow-green tea that tastes like hot water with an opinion. Eight hours gives you something dark, heavy and faintly savory that has clearly pulled a lot more out of the leaf. I started making these in March years ago, the winter I got tired of reaching for coffee first thing and wanted something that felt like it was feeding me. For other slow-steeping herbal teas, see our DIY loose leaf tea blends .
What You Will Need
- 1 cup dried nettle leaf
- 1/2 cup dried oatstraw
- 1/2 cup dried red clover blossoms
- Boiling filtered water, enough to fill the half-gallon jar over the herbs
- Fresh lemon slices (optional, for serving)
- Ice cubes (optional, for serving cold)
The herb-to-water ratio is much higher than for ordinary tea, which gives this infusion its dark color and weight.
How to Make It
- Combine the dried nettle leaf, oatstraw and red clover blossoms in a clean half-gallon jar.
- Pour boiling filtered water over the herbs until the jar is full.
- Cap the jar tightly and let it steep on the counter overnight.
- Strain through a fine-mesh sieve or cheesecloth into a clean pitcher, squeezing the herbs to get all the liquid.
- Refrigerate the strained infusion. Serve it warmed gently on the stove, or chilled over ice with lemon slices.
Herbalist Notes
Nettle leaf is the cornerstone of nutritive infusions, and it’s why the finished jar goes deep jade instead of a polite tea color. It’s a mineral-dense green, which is why it turns up cooked like spinach in soups across Europe and sits at the front of every nourishing blend. The long steep puts the color and weight into the water.
Oatstraw, harvested from milky oat tops, is the calm herb of the trio. Western herbalists reach for it when someone is frayed rather than sick, the run-down feeling that comes from a long stretch of too little sleep. It has almost no flavor of its own, just a soft hay-like sweetness under the nettle.
Red clover adds a sweet, hay-like floral note. In Western herbalism it’s a traditional spring blood-cleansing herb.
Make It Your Own
For a slightly sweeter infusion, add a little dried peppermint or lemon balm to the jar. Drink it warm on cool fall mornings or cold over ice in warm weather. It also travels well in a thermos for sipping through the day.
Common Questions
What is a nutritive herbal infusion?
A nutritive infusion is a long-steeped herbal preparation using a high ratio of dried herbs to water, here 2 cups of herbs in a half-gallon jar, steeped overnight. Regular herbal tea steeps for 5-15 minutes. This method pulls far more out of the leaf, and you can see it in the color and taste it in the weight of the drink. Western herbalists treat it as a daily background drink, something you sip through a season.
How long should you steep a nettle oatstraw infusion?
Overnight, about 8 hours. Pour the boiling water over the herbs, cap the jar tightly and leave it on the counter. In the morning, strain it and squeeze the herbs well.
What herbs go in a nettle oatstraw infusion?
This version uses nettle leaf (the mineral-dense backbone), oatstraw (the soft, calm one) and red clover blossoms (the traditional spring herb). Buy dried leaf and blossoms from a good herb supplier so they’re clean and correctly identified.
How do you make a nettle oatstraw infusion?
Put 1 cup dried nettle, 1/2 cup dried oatstraw and 1/2 cup dried red clover in a half-gallon jar. Fill it with boiling filtered water, cap it and steep overnight. Strain, squeeze out the herbs, and refrigerate the liquid.
How do you serve it?
Reheat a cup gently on the stove for a warm fall drink, or pour it over ice with a slice of lemon. It’s grassy and savory, so many people find it easier chilled with lemon.
Plain oat biscuits are a mild accompaniment to the infusion.
