Nowadays, you can buy herbal tea blends easily; however, they are industrial products with many artificial flavorings and additives. Hence, sometimes they are not good for your health. Also, their flavor is not really honest. You can avoid this issue by making your own recipe tea with herbs. How to make tea from herbs, we will help you answer in this article.
If you can make tea from herbs by yourself at home, you will ensure the tea’s scent is engaging and original. Mixing herbs to create a cup of delicious tea is not difficult; you also are able to make a different recipe that only you know and enjoy your favorite flavor. We hope that after you read our post, you will have the inspiration for tea recipe creation. You can use herb tea as a healthy drink or a special gift for people, and whether it’s a cold winter or a hot summer, you will own a great teacup.
Now, let’s check the table content:
- What Is The Standard Structure For Herbal Tea?
- What Are The Common Herbs To Make Tea?
- What Tools Do I Need To Make Herbal Tea?
- How To Make Tea From Herbs: Step By Step Guideline
- What Do We Have Great Ways For Making Tea From Herbs?
- What Should I Pay Attention To Make A Delicious Teapot?
- What Nutritional Values Does Herbal Tea Usually Have?
- Q&A
What Is The Standard Structure For Herbal Tea?
You can try any herbs to blend tea, but you have to follow a structure to get a range of tastes.
Flower
The flower is the main ingredient in the basic tea formulas. Typical flower notes can be wild rose petals, calendula petals, violet flowers, chamomile, dandelion petals. You can choose your favorite flower and add one part of this herb in fresh or dried form.
Placeholder flavor
After choosing your favorite flower, you need to add placeholder flavor. This ingredient ties everything together, especially if you mix a teacup with some ice cubes; place-holding flavor can keep its taste. You can add dried nettles or dried red raspberry leaves. You should use two parts for this ingredient.
Fruity component
A fruit or naturally sweet components are nice because they are good for health. Dried rosehips are a good suggestion. This fruit type is easy to buy at health food stores or herb shops. You can consider hibiscus; it has not only a sweet and lemony taste but also creates beautiful deep red for your tea. Use one part for this herb.
Cooling herb
Cooling herb is an essential thing for hot weather days or a person with Hyperthermia. You should add it to the tea in last.
We can use mint with other herbs. Neem is also an ideal choice if you don’t like the mint’s cool taste. You can add borage to complete your tea recipe; you are able to pick up leave or petal or both for use. Add one part of the cooling herb and enjoy your teacup.
What Are The Common Herbs To Make Tea?
If you are looking for the best herb for tea, it is an impossible mission because each plant has different effects and provides other flavors. However, you can follow this part to find the right herb to add to your teacup. To follow conveniently, I will arrange herbs in groups depending on the factors that we usually use.
Bark
Cinnamon
Cinnamon is a popular spice in traditional cuisine. People obtain it from the inner bark of some tree species that belongs to the genus Cinnamomum.
It has berries, oval leaves. In folk medicine, cinnamon is a digestive aid. Thanks to cinnamaldehyde and essential oil, cinnamon can bring aroma to your teapot.
Fruit
Lemon
Lemon (nomenclature: Citrus limon) is an indigenous evergreen shrub native to South Asia. It is yellow in color, oval in shape, with knobs at the ends, and the water is sour.
This fruit has many nutrients, providing up to 64% of vitamin C in a day and several other nutrients. They help strengthen the resistance; especially vitamin C has the function of producing collagen – an essential protein to enhance the bonding of body structures together.
You can use the flesh fruit, or leaves to make herbal tea as you like.
Rosehip
Rosehip is the rose plant’s accessory fruit. It may be red to orange or dark purple to black according to each species. After the flowers are pollinated in spring or early summer, you can harvest rose hip pods in late summer or early autumn.
You can mix it with hibiscus to make herbal tea. This fruit contains beta-carotene, lutein, zeaxanthin, lycopene, and vitamin C. These nutritions can enhance immune and aid osteoarthritis issues.
Elderberry
Elderberry is a black fruit or blue-black, tiny, grows in clusters. Berries have a sour taste. It develops naturally all over Europe, mainly in Central Europe. Its nomenclature has the phrase ‘nigra’ (it means ‘black’ – the color of the fruit when ripe).
Elderberry has many excellent effects. Native Americans used it to treat infection, and Ancient Egyptians used elderberry to take care of their skin and treat burns. In European folk medicine, elderberry is still commonly used.
This fruit type is a supplement to treat cold and flu symptoms. It has a high vitamin C content and a lot of nutrition (fiber, phenolic acid, flavonoid, etc.). They can support some health problems, such as digestion, cardiovascular, antioxidants, etc.
However, you need to be careful because some parts (raw berries, bark, and leaves) can cause stomach issues. You should cook well berries and preprocess them before eating or making tea.
Schisandra
Schisandra is a fruit-bearing vine; we can call it by another name of five flavors of fruit. It has purple-red berry with five tastes (sour, spicy, salty, bitter, and sweet). The lignans in Schisandra seeds are very healthy.
Schisandra can reinforce the immune, positively impact liver disease, Alzheimer’s, depression, protect internal organs, and add vitality.
Sprigs
Rosemary
Rosemary is a native plant of the Mediterranean. Its stem is tiny, about 1-2 meters high, branches, grows into a bush. Leaves are plentiful, chewy, sessile, narrow, long, smooth, with hairs on the underside. The flowers are light blue or mauve with a purple dot in the lobes.
For thousands of years, rosemary has been a helpful plant for culinary and medicinal purposes. Rosemary tea has many wonderful effects such as anti-inflammatory, expectorant, antiviral, antiseptic, analgesic, aphrodisiac, and especially antidepressant, etc.
Oregano
Oregano is a plant with the same family as mint, basil, and herbaceous, quite square with tiny fine cilia.
Its leaves are oblong ovoid, with fine hair, with broad serrated, symmetrical growth. Tiny flowers grow in clusters at the tips of branches, white, light purple, or pink.
Oregano owns excellent minerals and vitamins; it has antiviral, antibacterial, antifungal, and antiseptic properties. Also, oregano is an ideal herb to aid the lymphatic system.
In Lebanon, oregano is one of the top herbs. People add it in renowned spice Zaatar or salad. You can put 1 or 2 sprigs to have a delicate sweet teacup.
Lemon balm
Lemon balm belongs to the mint family Lamiaceae. It is an herbaceous plant and native to Central Asia, Iran, the Mediterranean Basin, and south-central Europe. The leaves have an oval shape, symmetrical, serrated at the edge.
If you like the combination of lemon and lemongrass’s smell, it will be an ideal choice because lemon balm can provide a mild flavor.
Lemon balm has a few benefits, for example, a high level of antioxidants, sedative, anti-bacterial, anti-viral, aid digestion.
You can try to place herbal tea with lemon balm in the sun; it is excellent to absorb vitamin D – nutrition can enhance intestinal absorption of calcium and phosphate.
Tarragon
If you can’t buy licorice to make tea, you can find an alternative herb, is tarragon.
Tarragon is a herbaceous perennial. The stem is thin, erect, and branchless.
Leaves are spear-shaped and have no stalks. The top inflorescence is axillary, white, or green.
This herb has a strong fragrance because it contains essential oils with a high concentration and bitterness. Tarragon helps you anti-aging and control blood sugar with flavonoids, minerals, poly-phenolic compounds, and vitamins.
However, although it is helpful in cuisine and medicine, you should not use too much, only one sprig per teacup. In a European Union report, scientists have recommended that you consume tarragon in sufficient doses because it contains estragole – a substance believed to cause cancer and genetic mutations.
So that, if you are pregnant, you should also avoid this herb for the safety of your baby.
Lemon verbena
Lemon verbena is a perennial shrub. Its leaves are long, sharp, and polished. The flower is tiny, has purple or white color.
You will have a pretty rough feeling when you touch the leaves. If you crush lemon verbena, you can smell a robust aromatic lemon scent.
This herb can help you fight inflammation, expectorant and antiseptic. Besides, you have to pay attention; the European Union banned the lemon verbena essential oil; it is skin-sensitizing and has phototoxicity (it means your skin will be irritated by toxins under the influence of light).
Stevia
Stevia is a plant in the Asteraceae family. For centuries, Indians have used fenugreek as a sweetener and medicine. Nowadays, we can add stevia to the diet menu for diabetes or high blood pressure.
Stevia contains a glycoside that is steviol. This substance has 300 times higher sweetness than cane sugar. Stevia is perfect for anti-aging, control cholesterol and blood pressure.
Root
Ginger
Ginger is a rhizome plant; we usually use it as a spice or folk medicine. Annually, ginger develops pseudo-stems from the rolled roots of leaves and carries narrow leaf blades. The flowers are pale yellow, with a purple border, growing from the roots on separate shoots.
This herb contains a lot of nutrition, for example, vitamin B6, magnesium, Mangan, cysteine protease (an enzyme zingibain), etc.
Ginger has been shown to improve the digestive system, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, reduce nausea caused by pregnancy and chemotherapy, soothing flu or cold, etc.
As long as you consume ginger in the correct dosage, you will minimize its side effects.
Astragalus
Astragalus is a flowering plant, belongs to the Fabaceae family. It is a double shrub with purl-shaped compound leaves.
Flowers are pink-purple and clustered. Astragalus is a common medicine in Chinese traditional medicine.
Astragalus root includes diverse phytochemicals, which can increase the amount of milk for lactating mothers. This herb will enhance the immune system; it also helps you treat weather allergies, colds, chronic fatigue, heart and kidney disease, etc.
Licorice
Licorice is a flowering plant, belongs to the bean family Fabaceae. Its root is used to produce sweet and fragrant flavoring. This herb type has some benefits such as aid skin issues, digestion (acid reflux, undigested, peptic ulcer), anti-cancer properties, etc.
You can use it to make tea. However, we should not use licorice for women who are pregnant, breastfeeding, allergic to it, etc. At the same time, scientists recommend only taking 2.5 to 5.3 ounces of licorice per day or else you will get poisoned.
The dangerous symptoms of licorice poisoning include electrolyte imbalance, irregular heartbeat, high blood pressure, etc. So you have to be careful when using licorice.
Valerian
Valerian is a perennial plant; flowers are tiny, light pink or white, and have a mild aroma. People made medicine and tea from its roots. Its effects are sedation, anxiety relief, insomnia treatment, muscle tension relief.
Dandelion
Dandelion is a herb with a hollow body; many small flowers gather on one flower head in globular, have yellow to orange. As they mature, the dandelion seeds disperse with the wind and continue to reproduce.
Dandelion roots can be used to make tea; this herb has effects such as strengthening the function and nourishing the liver, weight loss aids (fat destruction, food breakdown), reducing cholesterol, regulating blood sugar, etc.
Chicory
Chicory is an herbaceous flowering plant. Flowers are bright blue. Several cultivars are grown for it as salad, young shoots, or roots. You can grill and crush those parts to use for replacement coffee and food additives.
If you are on a diet, chicory will be an ideal choice due to inulin. Inulin is a sweetener and a good source of fiber. Chicory root can use to make tea. It helps you clean the liver and aid digestion.
Flower
Chamomile
Chamomile belongs to the Asteraceae family, includes 2 main types, Roman Chamomile, and German Chamomile. This flower is very popular in traditional medicine. It has many long tiny white petals; stamens are yellow.
Chamomile has a few good effects: help sleep better, improve digestion, control blood sugar, etc. You can use German Chamomile to enjoy the mellow grassy taste and aroma. If you don’t be afraid of a bit spicy and bitter flavors, let’s try Roman Chamomile tea. However, you shouldn’t use chamomile if you are pregnant or are breastfeeding.
Lavender
Lavender is an annual shrub; flowers are pale blue with red. Thanks to its strong fragrance and ability to repel insects, people use it as a sedative (treat migraine, heatstroke, weakness) or antiseptic medicine (heal wounds, burns). You can steep blossoms to make herbal tea.
Rose
Rose is a familiar flower type with us. It is a perennial woody plant. Flowers have many sizes, many colors (pink, red, yellow). Rose is shrubs erect, stems with many sharp spines.
We can process roses into dishes, medicine and use essential rose oil to make perfumes. Rose and its parts contain a lot of helpful nutrients (such as vitamin C). You can use petal, fruit, bud to make tea according to your favorite.
Elderflower
Elderflower is tiny, white, grows in clusters. This flower is the main ingredient in the elderflower cordial (a soft drink). Elderflower owns great effects: aid treatment of respiratory diseases (sinusitis, colds, bronchitis), diabetes, constipation, etc.
Echinacea
Echinacea (wild daisies) is a flowering plant, belongs to the Asteraceae family. Petals are light purple with pink; stamens are red to orange.
Echinacea is commonly used to aid some issues: infections, fight infections, reduce anxiety, leukopenia, chronic weakness, rheumatoid arthritis, migraine, indigestion, etc.
Passiflora (Passionflowers)
Passiflora is mainly a type of liana plant that has a tassel. Flowers are regular shapes, colorful with a beautiful corona. Ripe fruit has many seeds and amorphous.
Passionflowers can soothe the stressed mind and improve the sleeping quality well. You can use flowers and fruit of this herb.
Leaf
Bee balm
The bee balm (another name: Monarda) is an herbaceous perennial, a North American native. Its shape is like a daisy; petals are tubular with white, purple, red, or pink. Leaves have lanceolate, symmetrical growth.
If you crush bee balm’s leaves, you will get an essential oil with fragrant and spicy. The bee balm tisane can support you to treat mouth issues and sore throat because of gingivitis and tooth decay.
People also use this plant to solve health problems such as minor injuries, skin infections, stomach problems, bronchial diseases, etc. You can use dried leaves to make a teapot.
Mint
Mint belongs to the Lamiaceae family, is a perennial herbaceous plant. Its stem has an intense aroma because of containing menthol oils. Hence, mint will give you a sweet-and-cool tea on muggy summer days.
This herb has a fast infusing aroma, so it is very suitable for making a glass of iced tea. Mint contains many vitamins, antioxidants, and minerals. It is helpful to support skin issues, soothe discomfort stomach. In medicine, the peppermint essential oil is also used to treat migraine headaches, fever, nosebleeds, etc.
Chocolate mint
Chocolate mint is a close relative plant with peppermint. It is a product of hybridization between watermint (Mentha aquatica) and spearmint (Mentha spicata). The leaves are round, lanceolate, dark green than other mints, and grow well, suitable in cold climates.
This mint type has another name of orange mint (Citrata) because it has a chocolate’s aroma, and it has a citrus-like scent (citrata mint form) when it is in food.
You can grow chocolate mint quickly in your garden in part shade or full sun condition. Its roots will spread quickly and create a mulch for the ground. You can put it in herbal tea or favorite desserts after harvesting if you love a robust aromatic taste. Chocolate mint contains vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.
Thyme
Thyme is a flowering plant, belongs to the Lamiaceae family. Many people use it in cuisine, decor, and medicine. Its flavor is similar to oregano.
Thyme is a shrub, a cluster of trees that is gray or white. Wood body, erect or lying, branched and fluffy. The leaves are small spear-shaped, short stalks; the edges are curled up with feathers like flowers on the underside. The flowers are pink or white; the calyx is jagged, hairy.
Thyme has three ingredients: Thymol, Carvacrol, and Eugenol. Especially, Thymol and Carvacrol have intense antiviral, bacterial, and anti-inflammatory activity. Thymol also can reduce antibiotic resistance.
You can use thyme tea to treat cough and bronchitis. It is safe with children, but you need to avoid using it for pregnancy because there is no research about using thyme on this subject.
Basil
Basil is a type of herbs that we use commonly in cooking but rarely make tea. Basil’s leaves are egg-shaped, spike, and dark green. The tiny flower is white, grows in clusters.
Basil’s flavor has a robust fragrant taste. It is considered a herbal antibiotic. Also, basil has anti-inflammatory properties and is an effective antiseptic. You can use 3 or 4 leaves for a teacup.
Olive
Olive is an evergreen tree or shrub native to the Mediterranean coast, to Iran on the Caspian Sea’s southern coast. Its stem is short and has twisted and concave protrusions.
Leaves are elongated. Flowers grow in white clusters, hairy, calyx, and corolla have two stamens, pistil, and 10 slots. Ripe fruit is green to purple.
You can use the olive leaf to make tea; to serve, you can crumple the leaves and soak them in boiling water, wait 10 minutes, and you will have the perfect cup of olive tea.
Each cup should have one sprig with many leaves; you will enjoy a mild flavor from the Mediterranean coast atmosphere. Olive is an ideal herb to improve your beauty and the lymphatic system with nutrition such as vitamin E, polyphenol, carbohydrate, etc.
Lemongrass
Lemongrass is a plant with a bright red stem and base. We can use it as insect repellent or sanitize chemical due to citronellol and geraniol. People use lemongrass for spice or flavoring.
You can use dried lemongrass to make tea; you will have a fresh and lemon aroma teapot. This tea type contains antioxidants, anti-inflammatory, and anti-free radicals (one of the causes of brain diseases such as Alzheimer’s, stroke, memory impairment, etc.)
To make tea, you should break a small piece and put it in a cup. If you want a lemongrass teapot, you need to smash it and break it into pieces, tie the leaves around into a bundle and place it in the kettle.
Sage
Sage is a perennial evergreen subshrub; its leaves are gray, wood stem, flowers are green to purplish. You can use a few leaves for each cup to get a strong aroma. This herb has the anti-inflammatory ability and is rich in antioxidants.
Alternatively, if you meet digestive issues, for example, flatulence or upset stomach, you can use sage tea to soothe the digestive tract.
Anise hyssop
Anise hyssop is a perennial plant, semi-woody or herbaceous, that grows tall to the bush. Its bloom is lavender with pink, white, or blue. Leaves and flowers grow against each other, and it is an engaging plant to bees.
Anise hyssop is native to north-central and northern North America, so you don’t be confused with hyssop (Hyssopus Officinalis), star anise (Illicium verum), and anise seed (Pimpinella anisum). A plant has the brown eight-pointed star fruit, grows mainly in East Asia, and it is an essential spice in Chinese and Vietnamese cuisine.
The leaves and flower part can give you a teacup with a flavor as licorice. It is ideal to expel mucus and solve colds. Many people also use anise hyssop as a nutritious food.
Tulsi
Tulsi is an aromatic perennial plant located in the Lamiaceae family. The stem is burgundy color; curve hairy, flower clusters are purple, leaves are lanceolate or egg-shaped.
You can use tulsi leaf to make tea. Tulsi can support you to face stress by control hormones, energizing, enhancing your immune, and has mind stimulation properties and increasing cognitive ability.
Pennywort (Gotu Kola)
When we mention this herb, I think you will remember its bitter flavor. Pennywort belongs to the Apiaceae family, has a green or reddish-green orchid stalk, kidney-shaped leaves.
You can use Gotu Kola leaves to make smoothies or tea. Pennywort can balance your brain, maintain youthfulness, reduce blood pressure, enhance memory, recover connective tissues, etc.
Ginko Bibola
Ginkgo Biloba is a woody plant in the Ginkgoaceae family. Leaves have fan-shaped, change bright yellow in fall. The tree has a pointed crown and long, rugged branches.
This herb has anti-inflammatory properties, can increase blood flow, microcirculation, antioxidant ability, and enhances memory and lucidity. However, it is not intended for use in blood clotting disorders.
Bacopa
Bacopa (Brahmi) is a plant without aroma; leaves are lanceolate and succulent. Flowers have five petals, white. Despite no unique fragrance, it still has a few benefits; it can increase concentration and awareness.
Skullcap
Skullcap is a perennial herb with small, blue, tubular flowers. People usually use roots or leaves as a medicine or to make tea after dehydrating.
Skullcap can relieve stress, anxiety, remove nervous stimulation and muscle tension, and strengthens the nervous system.
Seeds
Fennel seeds
Fennel is a flowering plant, perennial herb, belongs to the carrot family. It has a hardy stem, yellow flower, and leaves are leathery. Fennel seeds can be an ingredient in your herbal teacup.
Fennel seeds and the crunchy bulb have a mellow flavor. However, seeds have a more robust aroma because they contain essential oil. Fennel has many nutrients (fiber, vitamin C, calcium, iron, potassium, manganese, antioxidant polyphenol, etc.). They are all useful for your health.
Oatstraw
Oatstraw or oat or Avena sativa is a popular cereal. Oat is grass with straight stems, long leaves like leaf blades. You can hardly see the flowers. The mature flowers are the oats that you can eat. When the flowers are immature, they secrete a milky white substance (called milk oats, with nutritional value).
Oat tea is one of the most favorite tisanes. You can combine oat seeds with other herbs in your tea blends.
Some of the effects of oats: enhancing brain function, fighting depression, reducing inflammation, increasing blood flow.
Milk thistle
Milk thistle originally grew wild in the Mediterranean; then people use silymarin of this herb to treat illness, so it is grown in many other places. Leaves are big, have white dots, fruit is small, flowers are red-purple.
You can take whole seeds and grind them to have the best nutrient.
Cacao Nibs
Cacao nibs are a cacao seed’s product. Cacao nibs contain a high fiber content, lipid, protein, antioxidants, phenylethylamine – increase concentration, Anandamide – make the spirit excited.
Also, cacao nibs can adjust cholesterol levels and reduce blood pressure.
What Tools Do I Need To Make Herbal Tea?
When you have enough herbs, you will need tools to make tea. Here are some tools that you have to prepare.
Teapot
A teapot is a tool to steep herbal tea in hot water inside the body teapot. It usually has a handle, a spout, and a top lid. The top lid has a small air to prevent the tea from splashing when you pour it.
People divide into many types according to capacity; you need to pay attention to picking the suitable teapot. Don’t buy a too big teapot; you may make the herbal tea cool quickly.
Additionally, teapot material will affect the tisane flavor. There are many options for you: glass, cast iron, pottery, porcelain, stoneware, coated ceramics, permeable earthenware, treated steel.
Glass, waterproof ceramic, and absorbent terracotta are ideal materials for making a teapot. An absorbent terracotta teapot is the best choice, but you should use it to make one herbal tea.
Teacup
A teacup is a tool to drink tea. It may have a handle or not. A teacup is often small to hold easily with two or three fingers.
It is usually made from ceramic or glass. Teacups typically belong to a tea set. However, you can choose a teacup depending on your favorite.
A teacup typically comes with a matching plate or a cap that fits the mouth teacup.
We have two teacup types: Military teacup and cup serving. Military teacup is tiny; we use to drink tea. Cup serving is a more extensive teacup type, use to pour tea.
Tea maker
You have three tea maker types: the French press tool, the basket infuser tool, and the automatic tea maker. Depending on your demand, you can choose one in three methods.
Tea container
This tool can keep tea in a sealed space. Thus, your herbal tea will not lose flavor due to high temperature or moisture. Thoughtful people often choose a tea jar that is made from terracotta. However, this material is relatively expensive; you should consider this factor.
A jar is made of glass, aluminum, etc., which are suitable choices for your wallet.
Kettle
A kettle is a pot type to boil water. Its shape is like a teapot, but it is bigger. You can heat a kettle by putting it on a stove (gas, induction cooker, electric cooker) or using the electric heating element integrated into the kettle.
There are 3 kettle types to choose.
Normal kettle
This kettle type is often made of metal, has a flat bottom. You can use a stove or hob to boil water. Some kettles have an air horn signaling to know water reached boiling point.
Electric kettle
The vendor had built-in the electric heating department inside the kettle. We use electricity to heat water. An electric kettle usually comes with a heating sole to put a kettle on it for connection with an electric source through a cord plug. While the kettle is operating, the light signal will shine and turn off when water boils.
Automatic tea kettle
This is quite a modern tea kettle. As you can see, an automatic tea kettle is a high-tech equipment. Everybody can make tea easier with it. You need to set up the right temperature for each tea type that you want to drink.
When the water has reached the set temperature, add tea blend and steep. When you hear a beep, you can enjoy your herbal tea and maintain the temperature after that.
Tea thermos
Although you drink hot or iced tea, you need a thermos to maintain the tea temperature. It often has a cylinder shape and lid swivel. According to your demand, you can choose a thermos with different capacities. You can refer to some thermos models by reading this article.
You also can prepare a drawstring bag to contain your thermos. Thus, you can bring a thermos when you go to school, work or travel conveniently.
Ministry of gripping tools
You will have the following tools in the tongs.
- Tea scoop (spoon or teaspoon or tablespoon): use to measure the amount of tea needed.
- Picker tool: Pick up tea blend into the teapot.
- Small sticks: Put the tea mixture into the teapot or clear the pot hose.
Besides, you may have tea coasters (6 units) depending on each manufacturer.
How To Make Tea From Herbs: Step By Step Guideline
Step 1: Prepare herbs
To get herbs for making tisane according to your favorite, you have 2 ways:
Buying herbs at agricultural stores, supermarkets, markets, or reputable e-commerce websites. Ensuring they are always fresh, clean, and safe. For me, I like choosing to buy herbs directly at the markets in the early morning; thus, I can easily own the freshest herbs to make tea.
Growing herb if you can spend a land on building a little garden by yourself. When it is time to harvest the herb, there are a few details to keep in mind.
- Use sharp tools to cut herbs to harvest quickly and effectively—clean pruners before and after working in the garden.
- Harvest in the dawn before a hot day is coming because you can make sure the humidity and the freshness in the leaves are at the best level. Also, you don’t put pressure on the plant.
- If you use leaves, let’s cut the stem off and eliminate leaves from it. Don’t pluck leaves and let the stem be bare.
- You can handle some herbs such as basil, lemon balm, mint, etc., by cutting one-third of the trunk above a set of leaves. New shoots will sprout from the cut site, and your plants will be denser and greener.
- If you grow flowers, you should wait for them to bloom (it means they formed) and remove mature head flowers. According to each flower, you can harvest half-opening flowers (ex. chamomile, calendula) or take buds before they bloom (ex. lavender).
Step 2: Preprocess herbs
According to the type of herb, we have different preparation methods. However, firstly, we definitely need to wash them off. Then, you can follow these actions.
- Fruit: Peel, slice, or leave and dry in the oven or dedicated food dehydrators.
- Root: Peel, cut into pieces, dry, continue to chop.
- Sprigs: Pick up the leaves or break them into chunks or smash.
- Leaves: Pick up, remove chlorosis leaves, leaf worms, and damaged leaves. Crushed by hand or a mortar and pestle, dry, or left intact.
- Flower, bud: Use both petal and stamens or one of two parts according to each flower type.
- Stem: Use the bark or body depending on the herb.
- Seed: Take seeds carefully from the fruit to avoid damage and loss. Crush or grind to use.
Step 3: Mix herbs depending on recipes
There is no fixed recipe for herbal tea. However, you should follow tisane structure, including flower, placeholder flavor, fruity or sweeten component, and cooling herb. Thus, you can create a teapot with a range of fascinating scents.
Additionally, you have to remember herbs in detail, including the following information.
- Nutritions in the herb.
- Beneficial effects on health.
- Recommended dosage.
- Possible adverse effects if you use overdose and often.
- What herbs should and should not combine.
- What herbs should you avoid? (according to the health condition or toxins in the plants)
If you understand herbs, you can produce tea recipes that are safe and nutritious. You can mix materials in a bowl and put them in a sealed jar.
Step 4: Make tea and enjoy
After you have a full of herbs jar, you can use a tea maker, pour boiling water and add the processed herbal tea.
You are waiting for 5, 10, 15, or 20 minutes depending on par tea, to steep your blend.
Add sweetener (honey, syrup, etc.), stirred and enjoy.
There are three tea maker types that you can consider.
First, it is the French press method.
Put tea blends to the bottom of the press, pour boiling water, and steep dried materials for about 5 minutes. While waiting, you can feel the color change as herbs blend into the water, releasing their essence as the tea seeps in.
Put the plunger on the carafe and depressing down to push and keep herb at the bottom. Pour the brewed tea into your cup or mug.
Second, it is the basket infuser method.
You need to add herbal tea to the basket infuser. Then put the basket in a teapot and pour hot water into it. Waiting for a few minutes to steep tea. When you get the tea with satisfying color, lift the infusion set out of the teapot.
You can save tea blends for the next time (about 2 -3 times) with these 2 methods.
Thirdly, it is an automatic tea maker.
When you use this equipment, you just set the suitable temperature with your herbal tea to heat water. Add tea blend to steep, wait until hearing a beep, and enjoy.
Step 5: Herbal tea storage
If you want to use fresh herbs, you should store them in a few days or put them in the freezer. When you drink herbal, you can thaw herbs by pouring hot water and steep them.
If you like to drink tisane for a long time (about 1 year), you need to dry herbs and store them in airtight glass jars. Keep jars from intense light, high humidity level, and harmful factors (insect, dust, etc.)
What Do We Have Great Recipes For Making Tea From Herbs?
After preparing herbs and necessary things, you can process all kinds of tea as you like; if you have no ideas, you can refer to the following recipes.
Recipe 1: ImmuniTea – Tea for a long winter
Materials
Elderberries
Elderflowers
Chamomile
Astragalus
Echinacea
Directions
All ingredients are used with 1 part. The preparation is very simple, mix everything and store them in an airtight box. When you want to drink ImmuniTea, just add 1 teaspoon of tea to a tea ball and soak it in hot water for 20 minutes.
This tea type is from Real Food Outlaws. Its use is to strengthen the immune system with rich antioxidants and vitamins herbs. ImmuniTea is so wonderful hot tea for winter to prevent flu and dispel the cold.
Recipe 2: Tranquil Tea – Tea for resting time
Materials
Chamomile: 4 parts
Lemongrass: 2 parts
Rose petals: 2 parts
Directions
Put the herbs in the glass jar and mix by shaking. While using, add 1 spoon of the blend to a strainer or a tea ball. Immerse this mix in boiling water from 5 to 10 minutes. If you like sweetness, you can use a touch of honey. This tea type comes from the Bulk Food Store, which helps you calm down and relax after a busy day.
Recipes 3: Stomach Soother – Tea for soothing stomach aches
Materials
Mint leaves: 2 tablespoons
Fennel seeds: a half tablespoon
Pinch of dried ginger (if you want)
Directions
Add this mixture to a boiling water cup and cover. Waiting for 5 minutes and enjoy. If you have stomach aches or other digestive issues, this tea type of Wellness Mama will relieve abdominal pain and make you more comfortable.
Recipe 4: Herbal tea for creative
Materials
Dried peppermint leaves: 1/2 cup
Dried lavender buds: 1/3 cup
Dried chamomile: 1/2 cup
Lemon: 5 fruits, or you can use lemon curd.
Fresh ginger: 1 cup
Directions
You can get creative with all of these basic herbal ingredients. Below, I will give you a few suggestions to mix them. But first, make some preliminary processing of raw materials.
Peel lime and ginger with a vegetable peeler or knife. Slice the ginger into small strands, place it along with the lemon on a baking tray. Bake these two herbs for 2 hours in the oven at 200 degrees Fahrenheit.
If your herbs are not entirely dried, you should continue to dehydrate, put them on the counter overnight or use sunshine.
When you dry materials completely, chop ginger and lemon until they are ultra-small. Separate into two bowls and choose 1 of 5 following ways to make tea.
Way 1: Lavender + Chamomile
Mix lavender and chamomile with a 1: 1 ratio, put in a small jar. Add 1 tablespoon and 8 boiling water ounces to a tea infuser when you want to drink.
Way 2: Lemon + ginger + chamomile
Mix 3 materials with a 1:1:2 ratio in a bowl, put them in a jar, and seal. Before drinking, do the same way 1.
Way 3: Peppermint + lemon + ginger
Mix peppermint, lemon, and ginger with a 1:1:2 ratio. Do the same way 1 and enjoy your tea.
Way 4: Lemon + lavender + chamomile
Mix 3 of these herbs with a 1:1:2 ratio. Then do the same way 1 to use.
Way 5: Lemon + lavender + peppermint
Mix lemon, lavender, and peppermint with a 1:1:1 ratio and do the same way 1.
Recipe 5: Mint and ginger tea – Tea for season change days.
Materials
Fresh mint leaves: 2 teaspoons
Fresh or dried ginger: 1 teaspoon
Directions
Mix all ingredients, store in a glass jar (if you use dried ginger) or pour hot water to steep (about 5 – 10 minutes) and enjoy.
When the seasons change, you will feel tired because of nausea and indigestion. Hence, tisane has mint and ginger that help your digestive system work better.
Recipe 6: Bloom tea – Tea for more beautiful and healthier.
Materials
Chamomile: 4 parts
Rose: 2 petal parts
Lemongrass: 2 parts
Directions
Mix herbs and put them in a jar. Add blend into a press or a basket infuser and put boiling water for about 5 minutes.
This tea can help you relax and take care of your beauty and health thanks to precious nutrients found in lemongrass, rose, and chamomile.
Recipe 7: Alfalfa mint tea
Materials
Dried alfalfa: 1 cup
Dried or fresh mint: 1 cup (you can replace by bee balm)
Directions
Shred alfalfa. If you use fresh mint, crush leaves. Mix herbs and put them in a jar to save and drink whenever you want.
Recipe 8: Lemon mint tea
Materials
Dried peppermint: a half cup
Dried alfalfa: 1 cup
Dried lemon balm leaves: 3 tablespoons
Dried lemon peel: 3 tablespoons
Directions
In case you do not have dried herbs, let’s dehydrate and cut them into tiny pieces.
If the lemon peel is not available, take the peel fresh, dried, chopped.
Mix all materials and store them to enjoy when you want.
Recipe 9: Strawberry ginger tea
Materials
Dried mint leaves: 1 cup
Dried strawberry leaves: 2 cups
Ginger: 1 tablespoon
Directions
Cut the ginger into pieces and grind it into powder.
Cut the dried leaves into small pieces and mix them with ginger powder.
Store in a sealed jar.
Recipe 10: Cinnamon rosehip tea
Materials
Cinnamon: 1 stick
Dried rosehips: 1 cup
Lemon: a couple of fruit
Dried lemongrass or lemon balm leaves: A quarter cup
Directions
Break the cinnamon stick into small pieces.
Cut rose bushes into small pieces.
Grate the peel and dry; take 1 teaspoon to mix with other herbs.
Cut dried leaves into pieces.
Mix the ingredients well and preserve them in a sealed box. When drinking, use hot water to make tea.
Recipe 11: Anise elderberry tea
Materials
Anise fruit
Dried alfalfa: 1 cup
Dried elderberry blossoms: 1 cup
A few oranges
Directions
Take seeds from anise, about 2 teaspoons.
Cut alfalfa into pieces.
Grate orange peel, dry, cut into small pieces, take 1 teaspoon.
Mix herbs well and keep them in a jar.
Recipe 12: Celery tea
Materials
Dried celery leaves: 1 cup
Thyme: 2 teaspoons
Celery seeds: 1 teaspoon
Directions
Cut leaves into pieces. Mix materials well and store them carefully.
Recipe 13: Cinnamon clover tea
Materials
Cinnamon: 2 sticks
Dried clover blossoms: 2 cups
Orange.
Directions
Grate orange peel and dry. Blend all ingredients well and pour hot water if you want to enjoy it.
Recipe 14: Lemon and elderflower tea – Tea for fighting flu.
Materials (for 1 cup)
Elderflower: 1 spoon
Lemon: 1 fruit
Honey: 1 teaspoon
Directions
Squeeze the lemon juice and mix elderflowers, honey. Lemon and elderflowers are suitable to solve the flu. You can use dried or fresh flowers to make a sweet flavor for your teacup.
Recipe 15: Ginger tea – Tea for warming body up
Materials
Fresh ginger: a half or 1 inch
Honey: 1 spoon
Peppercorns
Directions
Rinse, peel and cut ginger into thin slices.
Add ginger, peppercorns, and a half water cup into a pan. Boiling blend from 10 to 15 minutes with a small flame.
Strain the ginger, pepper, pour the water into a cup, add honey, and drink.
When you get colds or hypoglycemia, ginger and pepper will help you warm your body, improves mood, and aid digestion. You can use powder, pickled or dried ginger, but fresh ginger is the best choice in this recipe.
Recipe 16: Mint and lavender – Tea for a cool breath
Materials
Mint: 1 spoon
Lavender flowers: a quarter spoon
Honey: 1 teaspoon
Directions
Cut leaves into pieces and mix with lavender, honey. Use warm water to make tea. A combination of lavender and mint will create a recipe that helps you get a fresh breath and relax; it also has antioxidant, antiviral, and antibacterial properties.
Recipe 17: Chamomile and lemon balm tea – Tea for sleepings without the nightmare
Materials
Dried chamomile: 1 spoon
Dried lemon balm: 1 spoon
Directions
Crush lemon balm leaves, blend with chamomile, make tea with hot water.
Chamomile and lemon balm can make you relax and easier to fall asleep. Lemony flavor in lemon balm and sweet taste in chamomile are genuinely very great.
Recipe 18: Herbal chai tea – Tea for rainy days
Materials
Rooibos tea: 4 spoons
Ginger
Cinnamon bark: 2 inches
Cardamom
Cloves: a half or 1 teaspoon
Directions
Crush cinnamon.
Cut ginger into thin pieces, grind into powder, take 1 teaspoon.
Crush cardamom, take a half or 1 teaspoon.
Mix well and use this blend with hot water. If you like a warm chai teapot on rainy days and read a book or listen to music, this recipe is for you. The herbal chai tea does not have caffeine; let’s enjoy it instead of regular chai tea with concentrated black tea ingredients.
You can also add milk into herbal chai teacups to let all materials blend well.
Recipe 19: Cinnamon and apple – Tea for classic lovers
Materials
Apple: 1 – 2 fruits
Cinnamon
Directions
Cut apple into thin pieces, dehydrate by a fruit drying machine, chop, take 1 spoon.
Crush and take a half spoon of cinnamon, mix with dried apple.
Cinnamon and apple are primary ingredients in herbal tea recipes. They can combine easily and create a teapot with a perfect flavor.
What Should I Pay Attention To Make A Delicious Teapot?
To create a perfect teapot, you may write the following tips in your notebook.
When you buy and prepare fresh herbs, you should remove the parts that are bruised, wilted, crushed, eaten by worms, or discolored. This act will help you get the best flavor in your teapot.
If you like to work in the garden, let’s grow your favorite herbs, harvest them, and make tisane with them. You will have fresh and organic herbs without pesticides, chemical fertilizers, and change genes.
You need to ensure your health, so you should choose to buy herbs that are clearly sourced from reputable addresses.
You can crush some herb types such as rosemary, olive leaf, sage, tarragon, or lemon balm. Thus, you will release the essential oil within them, which this factor contains vitamins, minerals, and valuable compounds. Your teacup is not only more delicious but also nutritious.
If you are a sweetness lover, you can add natural sweeteners in a teacup, for instance, cinnamon, orange peel, tangerine peel, honey, maple syrup, agave syrup, coconut sugar, or whatever you like.
Turmeric, ginger, and lemon are common and easy-to-combine herbs to make tea mixes.
Don’t be afraid to get creative with your favorite herbs to create unique recipes. Of course, it is essential that herbal teas are safe for you.
You should soak more pungent fresh herbs for longer (a couple of hours or overnight) to get the best result. You can put a tea bottle in the refrigerator, bring it all day, and sip whenever you want.
You should steep herbs to keep their original flavor and nutrients. If you steep leaves in boiling water, they turn brown but don’t worry; it is common.
Cleaning up tea set carefully with dish detergent and warm water. If you use a teapot for previous making tea time, you must eliminate all that tea type traces. If not, you will ruin the next tea’s flavor.
Alternatively, leftover tea grounds may produce harmful bacteria and molds for health; you need to remove them. However, you should make use of them as organic fertilizers for your herb garden.
To get the best tisane, you need to adjust the water temperature that is close to boiling. Two hundred twelve degrees Fahrenheit is a suitable level. If your kettle doesn’t have a temperature measurement function, you can hear its beep ready to make tea.
A background layer for tea will increase the taste. You can add a teaspoon of oolong, black, white, or green tea to get a bit of caffeine in a teacup in the morning. Your teacup will have better flavor, and you feel conscious and refresh after drinking tea.
If you want to sip tisane around the year, you have to dry fresh herbs. Drying in the oven or putting in the sunshine is good; after dehydrating entirely, cut herbs into tiny pieces and store them in an airtight jar or box.
Store the tea boxes in a cool, dry place away from direct sunlight.
For the same herb, you will need an immense amount when it is fresh compared to dry. To find the correct dose, taste the tea and adjust it until you feel satisfied.
Additionally, if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, you have to meet the doctor and get a consultation to know what herbal teas you should use and avoid. Therefore, you can protect yourself and your baby in the best way and still have enough health.
What Health Benefits Does Herbal Tea Have?
Aid respiratory issues
You can use some herbs such as lemon, ginger, elderberry, etc., to fight respiratory issues (flu, colds, asthma, etc.). They can clear the nose, push mucus out, relieve coughing attacks and warm the body.
Improve digestive function
The herbal tea has decomposition of fat; thus, the emptying of the stomach will be faster. You don’t meet the symptoms, for example, vomiting, indigestion, bloating. If you want to lose weight or have digestive problems, you can try some herbal teas: ginger, dandelion, cinnamon, peppermint, chamomile, etc.
Herbal tea does not have calories, so it is good to lose weight and replace water. However, if you add honey or sugar, or any sweetener, calorie content will be increased.
Enhance immune system
The ingredients in tisane contain a lot of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. They can help you avoid diseases, infections, stress, and some chronic diseases. You will protect your health with herbal teas and a healthy lifestyle.
A few suggestions for you: licorice root, ginger, elderberry, echinacea, dandelion, etc.
Reducing and anti-inflammatory
Drinking tisane is helpful for arthritis. The herbal teas can reduce swelling and pain so that you won’t feel tired in joints. You can use herbal tea daily as a joint and muscle treatment—for instance, ginger (with gingerol compound), rosemary, basil, etc.
Against aging
Forever young is a dream of everyone. Although we can’t help but grow old, we still are able to slow down the aging process with antioxidants in herbal tea.
Antioxidants can help you those things; they decrease cells aging and prevent free radicals from damaging your body. Your wisdom, morale, skin, and hair will be young more than ever.
Some suggestions: lemongrass, sage, cacao nibs, elderberry, etc.
Support nerve system
Using herbal tea can help you solve some nerve problems, such as stress, anxiety, insomnia, memory decline, and anti-depression. Some herbs will make you relax and more comfortable: chamomile, passion flowers, skullcap, ginkgo bibola, oat, lemon balm, etc.
Reduce blood pressure
Besides drinking medicine, you can add herbal tea to your menu. High blood pressure can harm to kidney and heart, so you have to control it closely. Natural herbs don’t have chemicals that can reduce blood pressure and do not cause undesirable side effects.
For example, hibiscus, cacao nibs, stevia, licorice, etc.
Skincare
The herbal teas include many vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants (vitamin C, vitamin E, iron, zinc, polyphenol, flavonoid, terpenoids, etc.); they can help you take care of your skin health better.
Drinking tisane daily will limit a few skin issues: wrinkles, melanin formation, acne outbreaks, etc.
You can try some teas from herbs such as mint, rooibos, clove, tarragon, chamomile, lemon, orange, rose, etc.
Q&A
What are herbal teas?
Herbal tea (another name: tisane) is a tea type, which is made from parts of plants (roots; stems; sprigs; seeds; leaf; petal; fruit). Tisane has medicinal purposes such as support digestion problems (stomach aches), strengthening the immune system or relaxation, etc., due to herbs’ nutrition.
Why do we should make our own herbal tea recipes?
We can own a herbal tea product of high quality at stores quickly. However, there will be some issues that make you uncomfortable.
Firstly, dust or bacteria can enter into teabags and break the original flavor and specific aroma. Hence, you will not be able to get the best experience with herbal tea.
Secondly, some manufacturers add preservatives and additives to keep tea packets usable for a long time and create delicious artificial tastes. Chemicals can affect not well to your body.
Thirdly, industrial herbal tea products are fixed formulas; they can make you bored if you use them again and again. And sometimes, you can’t pick a desired teabox with your favorite herbs.
Because of these three reasons, we should create our own herbal tea recipes. You completely make tea boxes with better quality, fresh and delicious flavor and based on your creativity and hobby.
How do we preprocess fruit to make tea?
If you use fresh fruit or a similar thing (such as ginger), dehydration is essential; you should remove the thin cover with a peeler or knife. Then, please place them in the oven and bake in 2 hours at 200 Fahrenheit degrees to dehydrate.
You can put them on the counter bar or sun exposure. When your herbs are dried perfectly, you need to cut them into small pieces and blend them with other herbs.
Can I add whatever I like to my tea blends?
Yes. You can add any plant ingredients to the tea, as long as they are safe and healthy. Learn the effects of each herb carefully and combine them to benefit the body and avoid formulas that can be harmful (create toxins, cause allergies, etc.)
How long should I steep the tea mixture?
You can steep herbs depending on your tea mixture. Each herb type needs a different period to soak. You also don’t worry about the herb will be bitter if you put them for quite a long time in hot water.
You can try the amounts of time: 5, 10, 15, 20 minutes, or even 30 minutes to choose the suitable period and the right flavor.
Can I use frozen herbs to make tisane?
Our answer is yes. However, fresh herbs are always the best choice because they still retain most of the nutrients and original flavor.
If you store herbs in the freezer correctly, you can save them in a period and maintain their taste.
When you use the fridge’s freezer to keep herbs, you should put them in airtight boxes or packets. Therefore, you can prevent air from entering herbs.
Besides, your herbs will not meet freezer burn by oxidant and dehydration status or emit any unpleasant odors.
After you take herbs out of the fridge, you absolutely must not thaw herbs, if not, leaves will be bruised, and you have to throw them into the dust bin.
You just add tea blend into your teapot and pour hot water. Your tisane will release essences, and the ice will melt, and you can enjoy herbal tea.
How do we make iced tea from herbs?
During summer, many people like drinking cold beverages, iced tea from the herb is one of them. The process does not have many differences.
You need to prepare and preprocess herbs by crushing. Put them into a bottle or a glass jar and pour fully of cold water. You can add hot water and let the tea jar cool and store it in the refrigerator.
Let your tea steep overnight and start a new day with a delicious tisane bottle.
Are the herbal tea and the fruit tea different?
The herbal tea and the fruit tea are two interchange definitions
According to Develop Good Habits reports, herbal tea often does not have leaves but herbs, spices, and other plant ingredients (including flower, bark, root, and fruit).
However, you still add leaves into your teacup to increase flavor.
Are there great combination formulas between fruits and herbs?
You can refer to some tips to combine fruits and herbs and try them today.
- Chamomile goes along with strawberry, orange, and apple.
- Peppermint combines with orange and pineapple to sweeten two fruits.
- Rosehip may be a good idea when you blend with orange, apple, or strawberry.
Do herbs and tisane have caffeine?
Herbs typically do not include caffeine. So that the herbal tea will be like that whether you add bark, leaves, roots, seeds, or flowers in the tea.
Conclusion
Making tisane is relatively easy. If you have never tried to create your own herbal tea recipes, you can still start doing after reading our article.
In this article, we can help you understand herbal tea and how to make tea from herbs. Additionally, you will know some information: the standard structure, health benefits in herbal tea, common herbs and tools to make tea, a few excellent tea recipes, and note to have a delicious teapot.
As you can see, you definitely are confident to make herbal tea at home. Don’t be afraid of buying a modern tea maker and give fabulous teapots to your family.
Do you like drinking tisane? Do you want to share great herbal tea recipes or tips for wonderful teapots? Let’s write in below comment part immediately.
