The cupboard
Kitchen herbs & spices
Filter by element or search a plant. Traditional kitchen and folk use — four tastes, not a clinic monograph.
Air· sourSour is cooling and astringent. It draws and binds, thickens thin blood, starts saliva, and hydrates even as it tightens. Sour plants carry the antioxidants of fruit. They move mucous and support the lungs — large doses irritate. Lemon-family plants show up again and again in sinus cups.
7 plants
Lemon
Citrus limon
The bright slice that finishes almost every stillroom cup.
Chill & congestion · Indigestion · Sore throat
Brighten, circulate, and clear
Peppermint
Mentha × piperita
The lift in the cupboard — head, belly, and a closed room.
Bloating · Indigestion · Headache
Brighten, circulate, and clear
Hibiscus
Hibiscus sabdariffa
A crimson sour that drinks like a summer cooler and a winter tonic.
Feverish & flushed · Cold hands & sluggish blood · Dull focus
Brighten, circulate, and clear
Basil
Ocimum basilicum
The pesto leaf that also wakes a dull head and a cold meal.
Indigestion · Dull focus · Nausea
Brighten, circulate, and clear
Lemon verbena
Aloysia citrodora
The sharpest lemon leaf in the garden — a cup of crushed green citrus.
Frayed nerves · Indigestion · Dull focus
Brighten, circulate, and clear
Costmary
Tanacetum balsamita
Alecost — balsamic mint and lemon in a stillroom leaf.
Indigestion · Dull focus
Brighten, circulate, and clear
Lemongrass
Cymbopogon citratus
Kitchen lemon in a grass — the brightest citrus pot after the fruit itself.
Feverish & flushed · Indigestion · Dull focus
Brighten, circulate, and clear