Making Cold Infusions

I started making cold infusions a couple of years ago

after talking to chef Ludo Lefebvre (Trois Mec restaurant). He was interested in offering non-alcoholic
pairings for his customers and asked if I could come up
with some interesting beverages to complement their
own creative drinks. Up to that point I was mostly
brewing wild beers and making primitive wines, but I
found it extremely rewarding to explore the possibilities nature was offering. I have since created countless
wild infusions and offered workshops on the subject.
To begin I experimented with making warm infusions: basically boiling water, turning off the heat, and

Local mountain infusion:

white fir and pine needles;
manzanita, toyon and California juniper berries;
elderflowers; and local
mountain honey.

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Chaparral infusion: manzanita berries, limes, wild

peppermint, elderflowers,
black sage, cactus pears,
hibiscus flowers, honey, and
organic cane sugar.

The New Wildcrafted Cuisine

then placing my ingredients in the hot water. However, this method rather dramatically changed the
flavor profile of many foraged plants. I discovered very
quickly that you have to let the plants dictate what
method to use.
I looked at the option of infusing my wild concoctions in the sunotherwise known as brewing sun
teawhereby you place the container containing
your ingredients in the sun and let the warm temperature speed up the infusion process. I scrapped the idea,
though, because of the potential bacterial growth that
can occur at somewhat high temperatures and make
you sick. This issue was even more of a concern
because I was dealing with fresh wild plants instead of
dehydrated tea leaves.

Forest infusion: wood mint,

water mint, mugwort, manzanita berries, and organic
cane sugar.

Foraging trip infusion: white

fir, yarrow, elderflowers,
wood mint, manzanita and
California juniper berries,
lemons, and raw local honey.

S I M P LE C O L D I NF USI ONS
I experimented with placing my wild infusions overnight in the refrigerator, where the temperature is
very low and bacteria growth is not really a concern, and frankly I was amazed with the results. It
worked beautifully with many of the aromatic plants, such as white fir, pine, yerba santa, mints, and my
various wild berries, and to this date its my favorite method.
Procedure
1. Forage your ingredients. These can range from
aromatic flowers to plants and berries. Here are
some of the ingredients I use in Southern California: elderflowers, various wild mints, fragrant or
pearly everlasting, yarrow, white fir and pine needles, California juniper berries, mugwort, white
sage, black sage, fennel, yerba santa, manzanita
berries, toyon berries, Mormon tea, blackberry
leaves, lemonade berries, wild currants, sweet
white clover, cactus pears, passion fruits, pineapple
weed, gooseberries, and dehydrated elderberries.
2. Work out your mix. There are no real rules; you
just need to experiment until you are happy with
the flavors. Your infusions will also change with
the season and whatever is available. When I make
my mountain infusion, I usually use 40% wild
mint, 40% white fir needles and branches, 10%
pine needles, and the rest a mix of various ingredients, such as around 20 cracked California juniper
berries, around 40 cracked manzanita berries, and
a couple of sliced lemons (or lemonade berries). If
I use yarrow or mugwort, I do so very sparingly
maybe a leaf or two. Mints are an excellent base
on which to build flavor, and we have over nine
found locally, each one with different flavors.
If you use white fir and pine, cut the needles
first so its easier to extract the flavors. You can also
experiment with various woods; Ive used California juniper wood chips with interesting results.
Add sugar or honey to taste.
3. Clean your container thoroughlythis is critical
if you plan to serve your infusions to others. After
cleaning with soap and hot water, I often do a
final rinse with very hot water.

4. Thoroughly clean your foraged ingredients, then

place the ingredients and sugar (if any) inside the
container and add cold springwater or distilled
water. (Do not use tap water, which often contains
chlorine and other chemicals.) Add as much water
as possible and close the container. I often recycle
old glass containers to make my infusions, and
cover the top with plastic wrap.
5. Place the container in the refrigerator for at least
12 hours and up to 24 hours, then strain the contents. Place the liquid into a new (clean)
container. Keep it in the fridge and enjoy whenever you want. For added food safety, I like to
drink the infusion within 3 to 4 days.
Cold infusions dont have to be complex at all; you
can easily take a single ingredient as a base and make a
delicious infusion. I do this often during my foraging
hikes by simply picking up and crushing a specific
plant between my fingers then placing it into my water
bottle. Infusions with herbs such as mints or sages can
be enjoyed within a few minutes.
From a culinary perspective, some plants are much
better tasting when they are cold-infused. A good
example is yerba santa. I like to pick the young yerba
santa leaves in late winter or early spring, as they are
highly aromatic at this stage. I place them in my bottle
with a couple of lemon slices to make a refreshing
drink. Yerba santa is mostly used as a warm infusion
for medicinal purposes (to relieve cold and flu symptoms), but the flavor can be extremely bitter if you
infuse it too long. Taken fresh and infused cold for a
few hours, you can experience the aromatics and little
of the bitterness.

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Here are some examples of the simple combinations Ive used with
success. These are just guidelines, and you can add more ingredients if
you want added flavors. As a forager, there are countless aromatic plants
you can use to make this type of simple cold infusion.
WILD FENNEL

3 to 4 medium-sized fennel leaves, finely chopped; 2 green apples, sliced;

and honey to taste. Use a quart of water (around 1 l). Infuse for at least
24 hours in the refrigerator. I like to use Granny Smith apples.
BLACK SAGE

Take a couple of small black sage branches, and bruise them slightly and
lovingly between your fingers to release their essences. Add 2 sweet
oranges, sliced, and honey to taste. Use a quart of water (around 1 l).
Infuse for at least 24 hours in the fridge.
WHITE SAGE

Use 3 to 4 fresh white sage leaves, and bruise them slightly and lovingly
between your fingers to release their essences. Add 2 lemons, sliced, and
honey or sugar to taste. Use a quart of water (around 1 l). Infuse for at
least 24 hours in the fridge. Limes go very well with white sage too.
WHITE FIR

Use enough small white fir branches to fill one-third of a 1-quart (1 l)

container. Cut the needles slightly so they release their essences, and
place everything into the container. Add 1 lemon, sliced, and honey or
sugar to taste. Infuse for at least 24 to 48 hours in the fridge.
LOCAL WILD MINTS (STACHYS BULLATA, MENTHA
ARVENSIS, LEPECHINIA FRAGRANS, ET CETERA)

Use enough leaves to fill one-third of a 1-quart (1 l) bottle. Bruise them

slightly and lovingly between your fingers to release their essences. Add 1
lemon, sliced, and honey or sugar to taste. Infuse for at least 24 hours in
the fridge.
As you can see, I often use lemons, apples, or oranges to harmonize the
flavors but, depending on your location, you can also substitute completely wild ingredients. For example, you can use pine needles, sumac,
or lemonade berries instead of lemons, or use manzanita berries instead
of apples. White fir is great to infuse some tangerine/lemon flavors.
Simple cold infusions: sumac, mint, and lemons; water mint, oranges, and honey;
white sage, lemons, and honey.

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The New Wildcrafted Cuisine

Hot and Chilled Infusions

I feel a bit silly to be writing about hot infusions
because making them is often a simple process, but at
the same time it can be an art form. If you are obsessed
with trying to capture the essence of an environment,
it can become a more complex project, albeit quite
fun. Its not unusual for me to spend a couple of days,
or sometimes much longer, fiddling with a new recipe
to get the flavors I want. Very often its a slow evolution. I try something one day, change it a bit the next
day, do it again a few days later when I think of a possible new ingredient or a better way to infuse one, and
so on. Sometimes Im basically happy with an infusion
but will continue working on it for a month and test it
for flavors on people attending my wild food classes.
Because I deal mostly with chefs, mixologists, restaurants, and our private dinners, my infusions are not
meant to be medicinal; they are based more on flavors
and aroma. They often represent a local environment,
such as the local mountains, chaparral, or desert, and
are meant to be paired with specific dishes.
If you want to chill your hot infusions youll need
to experiment a bit, as the flavors can change quite
drastically over a short period of time. These have
other culinary uses besides just as a beverage, such as
making interesting granitas (semi-frozen desserts) or
being included in salad dressings.
At this moment I dont have any truly set recipes. I
play with what nature is offering me, so its a somewhat intuitive process. One day, though, Ill probably
write down the specific ingredients or possibly even
package them.
Within the context of this book, it would be difficult for you to try to reproduce what I do if you live in
a different environment, but maybe youll find some
ideas related to possible blends you can create and
methods of making them.
When youre dealing with wild plants you have a very
wide spectrum of ingredients to play witheach with
specific characteristics. I often tell people that there are
no rules, just flavors. It should taste awesome and you
should be proud to serve it. Well, maybe there is one
rule: Your infusion shouldnt be unhealthy or poisonous.

As a somewhat vague general approach, I use the

cold infusion method with fresh ingredients and the
hot/chilled infusion method with dehydrated ones.
Ingredients can include wood, barks, leaves, needles
(pine, fir, et cetera), twigs, stems, berries, fruits, flowers, and so onpretty much any part of a plant if it is
appropriate. Sources of sugar can include regular
sugar, molasses, brown sugar, tree saps, and even insect
excretion, such as lerp sugar or honey.
I found out years ago that you cant simply steep
your ingredients all at once in hot water for a determined amount of time and call it a day. I mean, you
can do this, but I think if you do youll miss out on
some interesting flavors. This method may work with
the usual commercial blends, but not in more elaborate wild concoctions. Here are a few tips:
EXPERIMENT WITH EACH PLANT,
ANALYZING ITS FLAVORS,
TO DETERMINE YOUR STEEPING TIME.

This is very important if you want to go deep into subtle flavors, which some woods or barks can provide.
For example, a wood such as California juniper may
take anywhere from 20 to 30 minutes to infuse flavors
properly, if you are using a small dried branch. Its
always better to use shavings when using wood.
Oak bark can provide interesting and complex
accents (which is why it is used for wine barrels), but
can become overwhelmingly bitter very fast depending
on the oak species used. White oak is much less bitter
than other oaks. Other woods have also been used in
making barrels, such as chestnut, acacia, and various
fruitwoods, but I have not yet experimented with them.
Conversely, some aromatic plants such as white
sage, black sage, and yerba santa may require a very
short steeping time, so you should either use a small
amount or place it in the infusion for a short time and
remove it.
Each ingredient is different, and if you are really
interested in creating unique infusions, you need to
take the time to experiment with each one. For example, steep some crushed manzanita berries (or
manzanita powder) and taste the infusion every couple of minutes. Either take notes or trust your

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memory; by doing so youll gain the knowledge and

experience necessary to use each ingredient and extract
its maximum savor.
LAYER YOUR TIMING.

Some infusions can take a considerable amount of time.

For my local mountain blend, I will simmer my California juniper wood for 15 to 20 minutes, then remove
it. Some other ingredients, such as manzanita berries,
Mormon tea, or pine needles, benefit from somewhat
longer steeping time in simmering wateryou will
want to place them in the water at the appropriate time.
Once Im done with the simmering part and I turn
off the heat, I then place the ingredients that I dont
want too long in the infusion. These are usually highly
aromatic ingredients such as white sage, black sage,
sagebrush, and white fir. With these ingredients, its all
about quantity and steeping time. A little goes a long
way. Strain and serve the infusion when ready.
Another option is to place the right amount of your
highly aromatic herbs in a bowl and pour the hot infusion you have already made with the other ingredients
in front of the guest.
Sometimes I use a different but fun and useful trick.
Once my basic infusion is done, I serve it; to make sure
it stays really hot, Ill place a small heated rock in it and
then add a bit of some very aromatic plants such as
white sage, dried fermented lemon, or yarrow. The small
heated rock is always quite popular and works nicely.

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The New Wildcrafted Cuisine

CHOOSE THE APPROPRIATE

SOURCE OF SWEETNESS.

There is a considerable number of choices for adding

sweetness. Of course you can use regular white sugar,
but I like the infusions themselves to dictate the
source. For a mountain blend, I may use honey from
beehives in the actual mountains; for a forest blend,
birch or maple syrup may be more appropriate.
You can also make your own molasses with foraged
fruits and berries. For my chaparral infusion I use my
cactus pear molasses or Ill also use some of my lerp
(insect) sugar.
STUDY THOROUGHLY AND
KNOW THE PLANTS YOU ARE USING.

Its important not just from a culinary perspective, but

also from a medicinal one, to recognize the potential
allergies and reactions that your ingredients may cause.
Some infusions may not be appropriate for specific
people, including pregnant women or young children.
Remember, safety is your responsibility.
HAVE FUN! THE CREATIONS ARE ENDLESS.

As a note, you can also let some of your finished hot

infusion cool in the fridge and serve it as a cold beverage so long as the flavor profile doesnt change in the
process. Ive made ice cubes with some of my infusions
and served them in a glass with carbonated water, with
excellent results.