Tea

[Herbgardener]

I would like to know if anyone of you have ever made teas from your herbs? Oh and have any of you ever made chocolate mint tea I think it would be good but what do you think of it?

 

[digitS']

Mints by themselves have not been favorites. Even tho' I have it in the yard, I'm not especially fond of chocolate mint so, others will have to tell you about their experiences with it .

My favorite herb tea from my garden is made about 1:1, anise hyssop and lemon verbena. I will also have the lemon verbena by itself. However, I honestly really enjoy licorice flavors and the anise hyssop is my home-grown answer for that !

Steve

 

[jojo54]

I have choc mint and dried some for tea. I really enjoy it. If fact, I'm thinking of drying alot more this year and buy less tea.

I will have to try anise hyssop though because I do like licorice as well as mint.

 

[HunkieDorie23]

This is my first year with an actual herb garden but I am hoping to make some teas. What are your favorite recipes???

 

[Greenthumb18]

I like making iced tea with lemon verbena. And their is lime basil which i use too. Any kind of mint i like too. I just found that lemon balm is good for lemonade or teas i think, i have a nice bush of it in the herb garden going to try it.

 

[hoodat]

If I'm going to use mint in a tea I add it crushed to cold water and let it steep. Boiled mint tea always tastes bitter to me.
I add lemon grass to many of my teas and sometimes drink it all by itself. I always keep echinacea on hand in case I feel a cold coming on. Thyme tea with honey is good for a sore throat.
I ran across an old friend in my nursery today, Thai basil. I haven't grown it in a long time. With it's anise flavor it makes a good tea, especially with fish.
I have a clump of the little mint marigold growing in my garden now. I think it will have interesting possibilities for tea when it gets big enough to trim.

 

[HunkieDorie23]

If I'm going to use mint in a tea I add it crushed to cold water and let it steep. Boiled mint tea always tastes bitter to me.

Now this is good to know. I am very sensitive to bitter taste and this would be a deal breaker for me.

 

[digitS']

I'm not a sophisticate in any way. For years, My method of making tea was to drop some in a tea ball, fill a cup with cold water, and pop both in the microwave for a prescribed number of seconds. If I wanted more than one cup, I'd use a 2 or 4 cup measuring cup and do the same thing - microwave .

Once in awhile, there would be a kettle of hot water on the stove and I'd use that.

When I had a tea bag the tea was better from the kettle water. Maybe it is because of the exposure of the bag floating on top the water but the microwave changed the flavor of the tea -- it took me years to figure out that there WAS a difference and it didn't have anything to do with whether I had toast or a cookie with the tea. The tea flavor was different and not nearly as good .

Now, taste is subjective. Maybe you would appreciate it the other way but I suspect not. Still, some of you have mentioned herbs already that I even grow but don't use steeped in hot water. Lemon balm, basil, really - any mint -- they aren't my first choice. It is personal but I think that we could probably all benefit from more careful steeping than the microwave performs. I suspect, some of you wouldn't even think of using a microwave .

Another thing from the unsophisticate . . . fresh or dry leaves make a difference. I decided to grow some herbs because I was not real delighted with the fresh volunteer catnip around the yard & garden. It was okay but I wasn't going to drink it every day -- just kind of a pick-me-up on a day when I was getting a little tired. It seems to work well for that .

Someone on TEG said that flavors change with drying. Yep, don't know why that didn't occur to me before . I like catnip better dried than fresh. It is as simple as that . .

Steve

 

[hoodat]

I have one of those gadgets that looks like tongs but has a perforated round ball on the end. It's real handy. You put the dry leaves in it and pour boiling water over it in your cup and then just swish it around till you get the strength you want. If you can't find one in your grocery store they always have them where they sell dry herbs.

 

[jojo54]

I use a pot with a strainer insert. The leaves go in the insert then when the tea has brewed you can take it out of the pot. I also use a stainer over my cup when I use loose leaves in my regular pot.