Herbs & Botanicals Guide
Glossary Of Herbs And Botanicals Used In Non-Alcoholic Spirits
Borage: Also known as Starflower is a flowering herb native to the Mediterranean.
Buchu: A South African plant that is used in medicines that can treat kidney and urinary infections.
Cacao: Seeds from a small tropical American evergreen tree, used for making cocoa, cocoa butter, and chocolate.
Camomile: A daisy-like plant used to make herbal infusions and medicines.
Caraway Seed: Also known as meridian fennel and Persian cumin, is a biennial plant in the family Apiaceae, native to western Asia, Europe, and North Africa.
Cardamom: Is a spice used in sweet and savoury dishes made from the seed pods of various plants in the ginger family.
Cloves: Aromatic flower buds naïve to the Maluku islands of Indonesia. Commonly used as a spice.
Coconut Vinegar: Is a rich source of many nutrients, and the sap used to make it is rich in vitamin C and potassium. It is said to be the new Apple Cider Vinegar.
Coriander: An aromatic Mediterranean plant of the parsley family, the leaves and seeds of which are used as culinary herbs.
Damiana: A wild shrub grown in Mexico, Central America, & the West Indies. The leaf and stem are used to make medicine. Historically, regarded as an aphrodisiac.
Dark Amber Agave: A syrup that Is sweeter than honey, though less viscous.
Fennel Seeds: Dried seeds from the Fennel herb that possess an aniseed flavour and a warm, sweet aroma. Often used in Chinese five-spice mix.
Ginger: A hot, South-East Asian fragrant spice made from the rhizome of a plant, which may be chopped or powdered for cooking, preserved in syrup, or candied.
Grapefruit: A subtropical, relatively large sour to semi-sweet, somewhat bitter fruit
Green Tea: is made from unfermented leaves that is pale in colour and slightly bitter in flavour, produced mainly in China and Japan.
Jamaican Allspice Berry: A sweet, versatile, flavoured berry reminiscent of cloves, cinnamon and a hint of nutmeg, that, despite its name is a single berry from the Jamaican bayberry tree.
Juniper: An evergreen shrub or small tree that bears berrylike cones, widely distributed throughout Eurasia and North America. Many kinds have aromatic cones or foliage. It is used as a flavouring in gin.
Kaffir Lime Leaves: (Citrus Hystrix), called the kaffir lime, makrut lime or Mauritius papeda, is a citrus fruit native to tropical Southeast Asia and southern China. Its rind and crushed leaves emit an intense citrus fragrance.
Konjac: (See Voodoo Lily)
Lavender: A genus of 47 flowering plants. It is a scented shrub that is used in cooking.
Liquorice: The widely distributed plant of the pea family from which liquorice is obtained
Lion’s mane: (Hericium Erinaceus) A type of medicinal mushroom, long used in traditional Chinese medicine.
Mint: An aromatic plant native to temperate regions of the Old World, several kinds of which are used as culinary herbs.
Molasses: A thick, dark brown juice obtained from raw sugar during the refining process.
Nutmeg: Seed or ground spice with many benefits derived from the fruit Myristica fragrans. Used in essential oils and to soothe indigestion and improve blood circulation.
Oakwood: A smoky-flavoured botanical produced from oak trees.
Passion Flower: an evergreen climbing plant of warm regions, which bears distinctive flowers with parts that supposedly resemble instruments of the Crucifixion. It is said to reduce anxiety that leads to insomnia.
Rooibos: Meaning ‘red bush’, a South African broom-like member of the Fabaceae family. The leaves are used to make herbal tea.
Sea Kelp: A nutrient and natural source of vitamins A, B1, B2, C, D & E as well as many minerals. It contains the highest natural content of calcium of any food. Used in cooking
Tulsi: A herb, also known as ‘Tulasi’, ‘Holy Basil’, ‘The Incomparable One’ and ‘Elixir of Life’ used in Ayurveda, and in some herbal tea/tisane and true tea blends.
Vanilla: A flavouring derived from orchids of the genus Vanilla primarily from the Mexican species. Often used as a flavouring.
Voodoo Lily: Also known as Konjac. Grown in China, Korea, Taiwan, Japan & South East Asia used as flavouring and as a vegan substitute for gelatine.
Yerba Mate: A species of the holly genus that is used to make a beverage called Mate.
