The evening wind-down: valerian, passionflower, skullcap and blue lotus compared
Written by Simon Coxon, founder of Herbal Monkey. Simon has been sourcing and preparing botanical extracts since 2023 and packs every order himself from the workshop in Essex.
The single most common message I get is some version of "which one of these is the good one for the evening?" Usually the person has been reading around, has found four or five names that all seem to do the same thing, and wants me to just pick.
I understand the impulse, but it is the wrong question, because these plants are not competing versions of one thing. They taste different, they are prepared differently, they have completely separate histories, and the reason people stick with one over another is usually nothing to do with strength.
So here is a straight comparison of the four that come up most.
Valerian (Valeriana officinalis)
Valerian is the one everybody has heard of and the one most people give up on, for a reason that has nothing to do with the plant: it smells appalling. Dried valerian root smells like old socks. This is not a sign of poor quality, it is just what valerian smells like, and if yours does not smell like that it may not be very fresh.
It has the longest documented history of the four in Europe. It turns up in Greek and Roman texts, it was used across mediaeval Europe, and it was widely used in Britain through both world wars. Traditionally it is the evening plant, taken as a tea an hour or so before bed.
Preparation matters more with valerian than with the others. The root is dense, so a two-minute steep does nothing. It wants either a long steep, fifteen minutes with a lid on, or a proper decoction where you simmer it. Most people who report that valerian "did nothing" made it like a teabag.
The smell is also why valerian is so often bought as a tincture instead. Same plant, no kitchen.
We stock it as part of a valerian, chamomile and lemon balm tea, where the chamomile and lemon balm do a lot of work on the taste, and as a fresh valerian root tincture.
If valerian is the one you have settled on, I have written a separate piece on brewing it properly, with recipes, which goes into far more depth on preparation than there is room for here.
Passionflower (Passiflora incarnata)
Passionflower is the gentle one, and it is the one I most often suggest to people who found valerian too much or simply could not get past the smell.
The name has nothing to do with romance. Spanish missionaries in South America in the 1500s saw the flower's structure as a representation of the Passion of Christ, and the name stuck. The plant itself is a climbing vine with an extraordinary, almost alien-looking flower.
Traditionally it sits in the "restless mind" category rather than the "heavy sleep" category, which is a distinction worth taking seriously when you are choosing. It has been used across the Americas and later widely in European herbalism, usually for the evenings where the body is tired but the head has not caught up.
Practically, it is easy: it makes a pleasant, mild, slightly grassy tea that needs no disguising, and it steeps like a normal herb rather than needing a decoction.
We stock the dried passionflower herb and a fresh passionflower tincture.
Passionflower and chamomile get compared constantly, and they are genuinely close, so that one has its own head-to-head guide here.
Skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora)
Skullcap is the one hardly anyone asks for by name, and the one that people who use it tend to be quietly loyal to.
It is a small North American mint-family plant with hooded blue flowers, which is where the name comes from. It was used extensively by the Cherokee and adopted into Western herbalism in the 1700s. Confusingly there is a completely different Chinese skullcap, Scutellaria baicalensis, used for entirely different things. If a supplier does not tell you which species you are getting, ask.
Traditionally it belongs to the same family of uses as passionflower rather than valerian, and the two are very often used together, which is not a coincidence.
The dried herb makes a fairly bitter tea, so the tincture is the more common way in.
We stock a fresh skullcap tincture at 1:2 @ 35%, with a full preparation and dosage guide.
Blue lotus (Nymphaea caerulea)
Blue lotus is the outlier here, and it is our single biggest seller.
It is not really part of the same herbal tradition as the other three. It is an Egyptian water lily, and its history is ceremonial rather than medicinal. It appears constantly in tomb painting and temple carving, it was found scattered over Tutankhamun's body, and it shows up in banquet scenes across three thousand years of Egyptian art. People buy it for the ritual as much as anything else, and I think that is entirely legitimate.
It is beautiful to prepare, which the others are not. The dried flowers open in hot water. It makes a golden, faintly floral tea with a slightly sweet finish, and a lot of people drink it purely because the ten minutes of making it is the actual wind-down.
It is most often blended, usually with mugwort, which is a dream-lore pairing rather than a flavour one.
We stock whole dried blue lotus flowers and a blue lotus and mugwort blend, with a preparation guide here. There is also a fuller piece on blue lotus flower tea specifically if it is the one you want to read up on.
Side by side
| Valerian | Passionflower | Skullcap | Blue lotus | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tradition | European, 2,000+ years | Americas, 1500s on | North American, 1700s on | Egyptian, ceremonial |
| Taste | Earthy. Smells terrible | Mild, grassy, pleasant | Bitter | Floral, faintly sweet |
| Traditionally for | Evenings, rest | A busy head | A busy head | Ritual and ceremony |
| Preparation | Long steep or decoction | Normal steep | Usually tincture | Steep, flowers open |
| Best if | You want the classic | Valerian was too much | You like passionflower | You want the ritual |
The two mistakes people make
Under-preparing the roots. Valerian is a root. Roots need heat and time. Fifteen minutes with a lid on, or a genuine simmer. Leaves and flowers like passionflower and blue lotus do not need this, which is part of why people find them easier.
Changing every three days. Botanicals of this kind have traditionally been used as part of a routine rather than as a switch. Whatever you pick, giving it a couple of weeks in the same slot each evening will tell you far more than trying four things in a fortnight.
If you would rather not choose
Our Ultimate Sleep Tincture combines valerian root, passionflower, lavender and chamomile in one 1:5 @ 40% extraction. It exists precisely because this question comes up so often, and it means you get the valerian without the kitchen smelling of it.
If you want to build your own evening blend instead, our mix-two blends let you pair any two, and passionflower with chamomile or blue lotus with mugwort are the two people come back for.
Making it a habit rather than a project
The whole point of an evening routine is that it happens without deciding each time. All of these are on subscribe and save, up to 15% off, pause or skip whenever. Mostly people use it so they stop running out in week three and losing the thread.
Everything above describes traditional and historical use. Nothing here is medical advice, and none of these products are intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any condition, including any sleep disorder. Valerian, passionflower and skullcap can interact with sedative and other prescribed medication. If you are pregnant, breastfeeding, taking any prescribed medication, or under medical care, speak to your doctor before adding any botanical to your routine. Do not take any of these before driving or operating machinery.
Questions about any of this? Email me directly at simon@herbalmonkey.co.uk. I read them all.
