Recipes for Your Own Herbal Teas

Why Have Recipes for Your Own Herbal Teas

There are varied reasons why you might make your own herbal teas. Some of the reasons you may want to perfect your own tea recipes include the following:

• Health: Many people experiment with various health-based teas. There are teas that you can make to cure a headache, teas that induce relaxation, and teas to cure colds. There are teas that you can make for most general aliments. You can drink them or use them in a herb vaporizer. As a bonus, teas have fewer side effects than traditional medications and leave your system sooner – they aren’t toxic like some medications. Lastly, homemade teas are free from preservatives and any additives. You’ll know everything that goes into your tea.
• Beauty: Some people create herbal teas as beauty treatments. There are teas you can bath in for softer skin and teas to darken gray hair. Teas also work from the inside out to promote good health, and thus beauty.
• Cost: Growing herbs is extremely cost effective and making teas from these herbs is much cheaper over time than store bought.
• Taste: Fresh herbs taste way better than dried when brewed. Even if you buy, say, bulk herbs and make teas, you can perfect the taste and strength to your own preferences.
• Fun: It’s fun and a good learning experience to grow herbs for tea. If you don’t grow herbs it’s still pretty fun to play around in the kitchen. There’s very little that can go wrong with herbal teas so it’s a less stressful process than bread baking for instance.

Herbal Tea Basic Requirements

In order to make your own teas you’ll need a few items:

1. Herbs: You can grow your own herbs, order them from an herb company, or buy them in bulk at tea specific shops or at your local co-op or natural food store.
2. Tea brewing equipment: You’ll need a teapot and a tea ball or infuser. If you grind seeds for teas you may want a spice mill herb grinder.
3. Books: Depending on what sorts of teas you’d like to make it’s nice to have a book or two. If you want to make healthful teas try 20,000 Secrets of Tea: The Most Effective Ways to Benefit from Nature's Healing Herbs. If you’re interested in tea as a yummy drink try The Book of Herbal Teas: A Guide to Gathering, Brewing, and Drinking.
4. Recipes: Below you’ll find some recipes and further resources to get you going.

Creating Herbal Tea Recipes

In recipes for your own herbal teas you can use almost any herb or mixture of herbs you like. If you pick wild herbs make sure you have a decent herb field guide so you don’t choose a poisonous plant.

If you’re creating a recipe from a mix of say, three dried herbs add about a teaspoon of each to your tea ball. For whole herb tea like mint, use more than a teaspoon, fill the ball with mint. You can make mixes of dried herbs and store them in airtight containers – you can even make dry mixes to use in gifts, such as herbal tea remedies gift baskets.

For fresh herbal teas, it’s best to cut the leaves right off the plant, lightly wash them, and then add them to your pot or tea ball. Always strain before drinking. If you cut too many leaves you can refrigerate the extra for a day or two or put them in ice cube trays, cover with water, and freeze for later use.

Remember, there are no big mistakes in tea making. If you make a mix you don’t love you can always try again.

Easy Herbal Tea Recipes

Following are some basic recipes for your own herbal teas. To make, simply follow the instructions in the section above, depending on whether you’re using fresh herbs or dried.

Important note!: You should discuss herbal tea use with your health care provider. One cup of tea won’t likely harm you, but if you use teas often you need to talk with your care provider. Some herbs interfere with medications and vitamins. Others are inappropriate for children or certain conditions like pregnancy or liver problems. If you aren’t sure what a specific herb will do to your body, don’t use it. Also, any serious health condition should be discussed with a professional

Herbs for headache teas: Brew lavender, ground ivy, rosemary, or betony either as a mix or choose one to use alone.

Herbs for insomnia teas: Brew one of the following or create a mix; chamomile, lime blossom, seeds of fennel, skullcap, elderflower, or lemon verbena.

Herbs for basic colds or fevers: Brew sorrel and borage together to bring down a fever. Try mint or spearmint teas for a basic cold. Borage, sage, marshmallow, and anise can be used to treat a cough.

Soothing stomach and basic mealtime tea: This tea can be used for all around good digestive health and to calm achy stomachs. Mix one half ounce of chamomile, one ounce wormwood, one half ounce mint, and an ounce of centaury together. To use, scoop two teaspoons of the mix into your tea ball.

Mint Mania: This recipe for minty tea comes from the National Gardening Association: Mix three tablespoons dried peppermint, one tablespoon dried catnip, one tablespoon rose petals, and one tablespoon lemon verbena; brew and drink. Note that this tea could make you sleepy. Catnip, which makes kitties wild, actually makes humans relaxed to sleepy.

For an extra heaping serving of great tea recipes visit Herbal Teas or Log House Plants.