Dahlia
Garden Addicted
I didn't know there was such a tea! I do know what you mean about the charming fragrance though. I made some crafts with eucalyptus and I used a glue gun. When those dried leaves heat up, the fragrance pours out into the air!
Homegrown Herbal Tea
- Thread starter Phaedra
- Start date
digitS'
Garden Master
No!
I have the strangest relationship with eucalyptus. When I was a kid and riding the school bus home, one stop was beside several eucalyptus trees. Well, I was beside myself sliding those bus windows up!!!
Roll ahead 30-40 years ... I am attracted to the fragrance of the Epsom salts bag on the pharmacy shelf. Eucalyptus!?! Decided to try it — i ♥ that herb in a bathtub of hot water & Epsom salts
! When I buy "pain relief" oil, I make sure eucalyptus is an ingredient 
.Tea? I don't think so ...
digitS'
Garden Master
I may venture into a tea and spice shop several miles away. The purpose would be to buy tea bags so that I might better be able to "quantify" the herbal tea blend that I have enjoyed most every day outside of the growing season. My small scale won't measure accurately but, I think that it would be possible to discuss proportions and relative to a teabag and a 10 ounce mug of water. I am a believer in less-than-5 ingredient recipes and don't want anything to get out of hand but measuring things by the pinch for digitS' is silly.
That is what it comes down to with my little tea kettle, apparently a 3 cup one. I overfill it so as to have 3 mugs through the day. @Pulsegleaner , I won't risk ordering a safer kettle of adequate size from ea nāsir. I also read that the customer was not pleased with how his servant was treated by the merchant. No Sale! (First example of a NanniGate scandal also 
?).
Pinches of herbs ... If I was measuring for a cup, it might be 1/4 teaspoon for the mint, 2 of those for the other 3 ingredients — silly!
Steve
That is what it comes down to with my little tea kettle, apparently a 3 cup one. I overfill it so as to have 3 mugs through the day
. @Pulsegleaner , I won't risk ordering a safer kettle of adequate size from ea nāsir. I also read that the customer was not pleased with how his servant was treated by the merchant. No Sale! (First example of a NanniGate scandal also ?).Pinches of herbs ... If I was measuring for a cup, it might be 1/4 teaspoon for the mint, 2 of those for the other 3 ingredients — silly!
Steve
digitS'
Garden Master
Measuring the 4 ingredients turned out to be insightful.
First of all, I don't know if the licorice root can be included. Using a heavy pair of kitchen scissors can deal with the roots but it's too time-consuming! And, I don't know if it is wise to subject my coffee grinder to the task. There is a meat grinder on a basement shelf ... but.
Anyway. The orange zest granules run a little more than I expected. If I do grind or snip up the licorice, it is about the same story. And, the mint should have a happy place in the lineup. The other thing is that the stevia weighs heavily as to my preference.
So, it was 1:1:1:2 for mint, zest, licorice, and stevia -- by volume. Filled a jar and with hot water and a good amount of brewing time, my tastes are accounted for.
Steve
First of all, I don't know if the licorice root can be included. Using a heavy pair of kitchen scissors can deal with the roots but it's too time-consuming! And, I don't know if it is wise to subject my coffee grinder to the task. There is a meat grinder on a basement shelf ... but.
Anyway. The orange zest granules run a little more than I expected. If I do grind or snip up the licorice, it is about the same story. And, the mint should have a happy place in the lineup. The other thing is that the stevia weighs heavily as to my preference
.So, it was 1:1:1:2 for mint, zest, licorice, and stevia -- by volume. Filled a jar and with hot water and a good amount of brewing time, my tastes are accounted for
.Steve
digitS'
Garden Master
A small bag of organic Mandarin oranges were purchased and the peelings were dried. I tried them with the mix this morning. Pleased that they are still tasty this late and still better than the purchased "zest."
It will be wonderful to go back to the lemon verbena with the growing season just around the corner but I have things covered with purchased ingredients.
The 2 verbena plants show no sign of any growth. I hope they are okay. Anise Hyssop will be started about the time basil seed goes in the soil mix. Despite this "perennial" plants being native to much of North America, this plant is best to start from seed each year as insurance, IMO.
Happily, those 2 herbs in the garden will replace the citrus and licorice. Whether I feel any value in having the stevia with them is yet to be seen (tasted
). I grew stevia only once and was disappointed in its performance. A native of tropical South America, maybe it would be okay in the summer greenhouse but I am not sure that I want to commit that space. Since I found a source for the whole herb online, I will probably continue with that.
Stevie
It will be wonderful to go back to the lemon verbena with the growing season just around the corner but I have things covered with purchased ingredients.
The 2 verbena plants show no sign of any growth. I hope they are okay. Anise Hyssop will be started about the time basil seed goes in the soil mix. Despite this "perennial" plants being native to much of North America, this plant is best to start from seed each year as insurance, IMO.
Happily, those 2 herbs in the garden will replace the citrus and licorice. Whether I feel any value in having the stevia with them is yet to be seen (tasted
). I grew stevia only once and was disappointed in its performance. A native of tropical South America, maybe it would be okay in the summer greenhouse but I am not sure that I want to commit that space. Since I found a source for the whole herb online, I will probably continue with that.Stevie
flowerbug
Garden Master
Stevia for Stevie... to steep away the stupor... banning sleepytime by slurping... simply sipping stimulants...
digitS'
Garden Master
I tried the coffee grinder for the licorice roots.
No go. I looked at the meat grinder on the basement shelf. I can't see that it would be any more successful. the roots are sliced thin but I'd like to put them with the other ingredients but I don't see that as possible.
I did cut up some more with the kitchen scissors. Really tuff work – don't intend to continue! It's fine to just have 1, 2 or 3 slices to pull out of a bag and drop in with the spooned in dry herbs on top. BTW, my hands smell great!
Steve
No go. I looked at the meat grinder on the basement shelf. I can't see that it would be any more successful. the roots are sliced thin but I'd like to put them with the other ingredients but I don't see that as possible.
I did cut up some more with the kitchen scissors. Really tuff work – don't intend to continue! It's fine to just have 1, 2 or 3 slices to pull out of a bag and drop in with the spooned in dry herbs on top. BTW, my hands smell great!
Steve- Thread starter
- #178
Phaedra
Garden Addicted
- Joined
- Jun 26, 2021
- Messages
- 3,095
- Reaction score
- 15,772
- Points
- 245
- Location
- Schleiden, Germany USDA 8a
My two overwintered stevia plants - as they belong to the family Asteraceae, I guess they will send basal shoots like other relatives. Under both plants I can see some tiny new growth, and I will repot them tomorrow for checking more details.
- Thread starter
- #179
Phaedra
Garden Addicted
- Joined
- Jun 26, 2021
- Messages
- 3,095
- Reaction score
- 15,772
- Points
- 245
- Location
- Schleiden, Germany USDA 8a
Basal shoots from the overwintered stevia plants - I changed the soil and added some feed for them.
digitS'
Garden Master
I brought the meat grinder up from the basement yesterday and ground the Mandarin orange peels that I had from the Winter. Two part processing – first they went in the dehydrator months ago, now they had to be ground to simplify their blending for tea. BTW – the coffee grinder did NOT work and they were turned into the lightest powder ... dust! I decided that the blender would not be worth a try.
This morning, my herbal tea was so much better than what the purchased orange zest had produced! A 4 ingredient blend with the spearmint, stevia and licorice root. The coffee grinder could not even begin to grind the licorice root so I didn't think that it was worth a try with the meat grinder. Might have jammed the thing up and damaged the motor. I just break up the roots with my fingers every AM.
The only thing that I grow is spearmint out of these 4. I tried some of my own spearmint but don't have enough to keep up with DW's and my tea drinking. She likes it by itself and I'm not one to deny her that. The spearmint patch was increased in 2023 but it will have to be several more square feet.
After my failed attempt growing stevia from seed, I'm thinking that the online recommendations for using cuttings makes more sense BUT, they are perennial, tropical plants. I have real questions whether I can keep them going through the Winters. Additionally, the purchased plants that I once had grew poorly during the Summer.
Meanwhile, the other blend that I enjoy — lemon verbena and anise hyssop — is going well. The 2023 lemon verbena is growing enough for harvesting this year. The older plant is doing great and now it has a companion verbena. The anise hyssop made an okay comeback surviving the Winter and include a few volunteers. As usual, I can't stay ahead of the flowering. Prune the flowers off and little flowers develop from the stems. It's the leaves that are useful! It doesn't matter much – I have plenty harvested and stored to go with the verbena and I'm not a fan of anise hyssop by itself.
Over my 6 hours of today, I had my oolong, my herbal tea blend, my morning cup of coffee and will have the verbena/hyssop tea this evening — happy digitS'!
This morning, my herbal tea was so much better than what the purchased orange zest had produced! A 4 ingredient blend with the spearmint, stevia and licorice root. The coffee grinder could not even begin to grind the licorice root so I didn't think that it was worth a try with the meat grinder. Might have jammed the thing up and damaged the motor. I just break up the roots with my fingers every AM.
The only thing that I grow is spearmint out of these 4. I tried some of my own spearmint but don't have enough to keep up with DW's and my tea drinking. She likes it by itself and I'm not one to deny her that
. The spearmint patch was increased in 2023 but it will have to be several more square feet.After my failed attempt growing stevia from seed, I'm thinking that the online recommendations for using cuttings makes more sense BUT, they are perennial, tropical plants. I have real questions whether I can keep them going through the Winters. Additionally, the purchased plants that I once had grew poorly during the Summer.
Meanwhile, the other blend that I enjoy — lemon verbena and anise hyssop — is going well
. The 2023 lemon verbena is growing enough for harvesting this year. The older plant is doing great and now it has a companion verbena. The anise hyssop made an okay comeback surviving the Winter and include a few volunteers. As usual, I can't stay ahead of the flowering. Prune the flowers off and little flowers develop from the stems. It's the leaves that are useful! It doesn't matter much – I have plenty harvested and stored to go with the verbena and I'm not a fan of anise hyssop by itself.Over my 6 hours of today, I had my oolong, my herbal tea blend, my morning cup of coffee and will have the verbena/hyssop tea this evening — happy digitS'!
