I usually start with a gentle heat bath, about 40‑45 °C for thirty minutes, then cool the mix before I let it sit. That loosens the plant matrix without stressing the active oils. For heat‑sensitive herbs like chamomile or valerian I skip the warm step entirely and do a slow cold maceration over a few days – it keeps the volatile compounds intact. In my herb journal I note that the short warm bath gives a higher yield of alkaloids, but if I stay above 50 °C for too long I see a drop in potency. The balance I like is a brief warm bath followed by a longer cold soak – it’s consistent and I can compare the potency in each batch with a simple patch test.