How do I use these plants for tea?

[thistlebloom]

I was so inspired by reading the tea posts this last winter that I decided to give it a try myself this season. And the recent discussion of anise hyssop brought all of my questions bubbling to the surface
Sooo... I have lots of questions!

1. When is the best time to harvest leaves?
2. I noticed in another hyssop discussion (Carol Dees ID post ) that Steve harvests blooms also. Is it best to get them before they open, when they are still in the bud stage?
3. I have a new lemon verbena that's not very big, and I harvested a handful of leaves, I should probably let it grow before taking very many leaves right?
4. What's a good method for freezing?
5. Here's a naive one.... :/ how many leaves do you typically use for a cup of tea? And do you crush them, or leave them whole?

I was at the nursery again last week ( I know... there goes that promise thing again...) and I picked up two more agastache, an A. rupestris that smells just like root beer when you brush the leaves , and also A. aurantica. Has anybody used these?

This is what I have growing, so suggestions on use would make me so happy!

Beebalm (monarda didyma)
Lemon balm (smellius goodus)
Anise hyssop ( I think, it's been in for several years and I sort of forgot which one I planted)
Chocolate mint
Peppermint or spearmint or both
pineapple mint
calamentha
lemon verbena
the two new hyssops
...and seems like I'm forgetting something.... oh well...


Here's my newest adoptees:

And the lemon verbena being swallowed up by the cilantro. That's the calamentha growing in there also. I rescued it from oblivion at the hands of my bossy lamium.

 

[digitS']

Hmmm Well, I can take a shot at these but there are subjective considerations . . .

Just what I do - forget the mints . . . not where you wanted this to go, right?

I hardly make any use of the mints in the yard. The spearmint is good with chamomile but since my near-failure with growing chamomile, it doesn't have much value. I buy a mix of chamomile and spearmint for tea.

A minimum of 1 leaf per 1 ounce water is the way I'd go with the lemon verbena used by itself. Half that when used with about an equal amount of anise hyssop.

Since the anise hyssop plants are miles away from home in the veggie garden, I can't remember the last time I used it fresh. Bringing it home just after the flower buds form has been my method. This is then dried and available year around. The lemon verbena is here at the back steps to the house . But, I will harvest all the growing tips before there's any danger of frost and it's time to move it back into the greenhouse for the winter.

I used to dry the lemon verbena but just rinsing it, putting the leaves in a ziplock bag, and freezing it has worked great.

The lemon verbena can get to be a fairly large container plant, even here in our part of the world, Thistle'. Your cilantro is harvestable . . .

Your A. rupestris and A. aurantica sound wonderful! I hope someone has had experience with their use but if not - it is all up to you, Thistle' !

Steve

 

[thistlebloom]

Thanks Steve, guess I'll be conducting some experiments. That should make for some good ways to pass those dark mid winter days.

 

[dragonlaurel]

Lemon balm (smellius goodus)
I thought its fancy name was Melissa officinalis, but you may be right. It's good stuff.
Some of these herbs can be used as medicines, so you might get a book on that. The lemon balm is used for calming. It's also got antiviral properties.

 

[Gnome_Czech]

I can never get the mint to make a tea...do the commercial ones use other types of leaves?

 

[digitS']

I am probably not the best person to answer your question, G_C. I don't care for mints by themselves in tea. I like spearmint/chamomile blends but can't grow chamomile well enuf to bother with it .

But, that's only 2 strikes against me !

I live in an part of the country with quite a few acres of mint - much of it in eastern Oregon. There is also a mint field just a few miles from here.

In my own backyard, as in so many others, there is mint. I have it on the north side of the greenhouse, north side of a large tree, east side of the house, east side of a board fence and sandwiched between the greenhouse and carport. It grows quite well in its many varieties in these locations. My backyard mint is not in an open field. And has no where close to full sun.

If you were to look at the climate of eastern Oregon you will see that most of the area, like here, has only about 20 inches of precipitation each year. Most of that is in the form of winter snow. We had an unusally cool July this year but only one-half inch of rain thru the entire month. Those mint fields have irrigation but otherwise it is dry, with abundant summer sunshine.

The mint is dark, dark green and when those fields are harvested, the fragrance of mint goes for miles !

I think that if you get spearmint or whatever from an honest source, you will have a proper mint cultivar. After that, it is probably your growing conditions that will make a good deal of difference in the quality of the crop.

Steve

edited to say: Well, I see you over on the California thread, G_C. Seems like the San Diego area should have enuf sunshine to compete with eastern Oregon and here. I kind of doubt that winter cold would make a whole lot of difference. . . . hmm, may not have a good answer for you :/.

 

[vfem]

Gnome I know its no help at all, but my mint is so 'sad'. Its always light green and stringy/leggy. I never have big leaves either?!

I grow mine in pots so maybe that's why, but I never get enough to make 'tea'. All I've done this year, because my daughter loves it, is to add a handful fresh to the sun tea we make on the porch. That way the sweet tea has a little bit of mint to it.

I also would like to know the tricks the commercial growers use, because I'm so tired of sad looking mint plants!? :bee

 

[damummis]

When I use my beebalm I use one leaf with black tea. Throw the leaf in a cup squish it with a spoon a little and make my tea with a regular black tea bag. Taste like Earl Grey, but fresher.

 

[thistlebloom]

Gnome I know its no help at all, but my mint is so 'sad'. Its always light green and stringy/leggy. I never have big leaves either?!

I grow mine in pots so maybe that's why, but I never get enough to make 'tea'. All I've done this year, because my daughter loves it, is to add a handful fresh to the sun tea we make on the porch. That way the sweet tea has a little bit of mint to it.

I also would like to know the tricks the commercial growers use, because I'm so tired of sad looking mint plants!? :bee

Are you growing it in full sun V?
Also you probably don't need to fertilize them if they're growing in average soil.
Are they in containers or the ground?

 

[thistlebloom]

When I use my beebalm I use one leaf with black tea. Throw the leaf in a cup squish it with a spoon a little and make my tea with a regular black tea bag. Taste like Earl Grey, but fresher.

Is that squish it when it's fresh Dammumis, or when it's been dried?