WHB #78: Herbal Tea

Herbal tea is fantastic in many ways, but many people just don’t seem to know how many different varieties it’s possible to make at home.

Herbal Tea

My favourite device for making tea is this delightful Infuser, as pictured, and makes life so much easier - and as such I would recommend that any tea enthusiast buys one. 3 to 5 minutes (but no longer - to prevent toxin build up) is enough to create a delicious refreshing drink.

Herbal Tea Recipe

Most herbs can be made into delicious tea, each with their own health benefits. Here are some of my favourites - but how many more do you enjoy at home? Let me know via a comment on this article (which is incidentally also my entry for Weekend Herb Blogging #78, which is being held over at Cook Almost Anything at Least Once).

Herbal Tea Recipes

Mint Tea. A few simple sprigs of mint (or a handful of leaves) can be left in hot water for a couple of minutes for a delicious drink which can be enjoyed hot or cold, with or without sugar. Moroccan Mint Tea is a standard green tea flavoured with spearmint leaves and lots of sugar.

Mint is famous for its health benefits, including the ability to settle a nervous stomach, halt bacterial / fungal growth, and fight cancer.

Rosemary Tea. Prepare with a few sprigs of rosemary steeped in hot water. The taste is better when you bruise the sprigs (i.e. bash them about a bit with the back of spoon), and add a slice of lemon.

Rosemary is also good for settling the stomach, and perhaps more interestingly, reducing flatulence.

Sage Tea. Sage tea is delicious both hot and cold, served with a touch of lemon and sugar. Prepare as as above with around 5 leaves per cup.

Sage has antiseptic properties and is great as a mouthwash. Care should be taken not to brew sage tea for too long, as toxins can form in the tea. Sage tea is not recommended for pregnant and / or lactating mothers, as it reduces the production of milk.

Parsley Tea. A few chopped leaves is enough to flavour this excellent and refreshing tea, which is great flavoured with honey.

Parsley is good for reducing flatulence, settling the stomach, and increasing circulation.

Marjoram Tea.  Marjoram tea is generally prepared from dried leaves.  It has excellent antiseptic qualities, and as such is also great (cooled) as a mouthwash.

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21 Responses to “WHB #78: Herbal Tea”

  1. Kalyn Says:

    I do remember that when I was quite small my grandmother would make sage tea. I didn’t like it at all, but I wonder if I’d like it now. I’m guessing I might and I have some sage leaves starting on my plants, so I’ll have to try it. (And I do have a tea infuser, surprisingly enough.)

  2. Lydia Says:

    Beautiful photos! Makes me wistful for my herb garden, which has been a great source of new tea concoctions. Anise hyssop is one of my favorites.

  3. Mary Says:

    I love your infuser. I always like lavender tea. But I do not have garden. Most of my herbal teas are bought from www.teacuppa.com
    I love lavender and jasmine. :)

  4. Katie Says:

    I never realized herbal tea was so simple!
    I have all of those in my garden, I’m going to start experimenting….I’ll start with your suggestions. I have an infuser - and if it goes horribly wrong all I’ve wasted is some leaves and hot water!
    I woulg think lemon balm would be very good…

  5. Michelle Says:

    Thank You SO much for posting this! They sound amazing! I’ve never made *fresh* herb tea, I’ve always purchased herbal tea bags. I’m trying these as soon as possible! :)

  6. Brigitte Says:

    I love tea, especially with herbs. And the different health benefits helped my pretty often.
    Even if these are not herbs. I make tea from chrysanthemum, rose petals, lemon grass, and ginger from time to time.
    I think I’m going to post about it as well some time.

  7. Helene Says:

    I love herbal teas and drink a lot of different mint teas, like turkish mint, lemon mint, basil mint, and even pineapple mint tea. A favourite is also verbene /verveine tea which is tasting lemonlike and is very refreshing.

  8. Vani Says:

    Marjoram tea….very interesting…must try it. In Southern India, during summer season, you can spot females of all ages wearing a garland made with fresh jasmine flowers, fresh marjoram.
    I tried jasmine with a skeptic feeling and ended up liking it a lot. Will try this one.

  9. scott Says:

    Kalyn: I find the key with Sage Tea is to make it very delicately - a kind of lime green colour.

    Lydia: You’ll find that almost all your herbs can be used in this way. The key of course is then finding the ones that taste nice!

    Mary: A great website! I like to stock up on fruity teas which are delicious any time of the year. The fruit teabags just don’t do it for me.

    Katie: Again though, ditto my comments about making it delicately. Nothing worse then stewed herbal tea. Yuk.

    Michelle: The best thing is, the more you trim your herbs, the faster they grow. A medium size herb garden will see you through the year with free tea.

    Brigitte: It would make a great post, and certainly one that I’d find interesting. You’re making me thing about whether my rose petals can be used…

    Helene: A touch of anything “lemon like” works wonders in tea to lift the flavour and cleanse the palate.

    Vani: I’m sure you’ll like it. You can try almost any combination, too, too see what works best.

  10. Christa Says:

    Interesting post. I never thought of making tea with fresh rosemary or parsley — but why not? You’ve inspired me to try it.

  11. scott Says:

    Christa: You’d be suprised (or maybe not, looking at your blog) just how many of the things in our gardens are edible…

  12. Susan Says:

    I like rose geranium, barely sweetened. I have an infuser, but find myself more often dunking sachet bags that I’ve filled myself.

  13. scott Says:

    Susan: However you do it, so long as you enjoy it then it works. I also like to use a Cafetière - much like a teapot only with a built in strainer.

  14. Susan from Food "Blogga" Says:

    So many herbal teas really do calm an upset stomach, as you mention. Thanks for so many ideas! Lovely photos and post!

  15. Merry Strong Says:

    I have bad circulation. I might get brave enought to try the parsley tea. :-)

    Merry

  16. scott Says:

    Susan from Food “Blogga”: Right now I feel like I fancy a cup, too. Must have ate too late last night or something. Not feeling too good!

    Merry Strong: I have bad circulation, too. My fingers go a shade of yellow when the weather is really cold :(

  17. dianne Says:

    Wow! Thanks for posting this. I drink herbal teas daily and have an assortment of herbs in my garden. It has never entered my head to get a herbal infuser. Guess I could get one from Lakeland or somewhere similar

    :)

  18. bazu Says:

    What beautiful photos and recipes! I love various teas: black, red, green, white, or herbal! I love making lemongrass and lemon balm teas. Especially refreshing in the summer.

  19. scott Says:

    dianne: They’re for sale all over the internet as far as I can see, so you might get a better deal like that. Mine was given along with some fruity tea at xmas.

    bazu: Why thank you very much! I’m a big fan of delicate iced tea with a slice of lemon in summer myself. Very refreshing, as you said!

  20. Tea Time! » Tea Tree Oil Says:

    […] My favourite device for making tea is this delightful Infuser, as pictured, and makes life so much easier - and as such I would recommend that any tea enthusiast buys one. 3 to 5 minutes (but no longer - to prevent toxin build up) is …Herbal Tea […]

  21. OS X Backup Says:

    I love tea, especially with green. I add some dried pieces of apples, black-currant, and raspberries (when I’m ill)

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