January 28, 2025

Drinking home made teas made from what we have

Coffee and tea have really increased in price.  I don’t actually drink either, but Mr S drinks both.  This year I am trying to embrace winter, and so have decided to try to make ‘teas’ to drink made out of things that we have in the garden, or the fridge, or cupboards.  Mr S is joining me, and has cut his consumption of bought beverages by drinking home made teas.  This has helped our January ‘no spend’ challenge.

Making these teas is not just about saving money, though, as a lot of these teas are also full of goodness, and are like medicine to the body.  Most natural food is medicine, or about nutrition, but as a society, we seem to have lost that connection.  Food seems to be more about enjoyment now, whether it is good actually for us or not.

This year I will be trying, and drying, more teas from foraging and my garden, but these are the teas that I am making at the moment from fresh, or saved ingredients, or intend to make in the next few months as new spring leaves emerge.

Ginger and Lemon Tea

500ml of boiling water

An inch to an inch and a half of ginger, peeled and finely chopped

2 thick slices of lemon (about half a lemon)

Squeeze some of the lemon juice from the slices into the pot, and then throw in the  lemon slices with the ginger.  Pour over the boiling water and allow it to infuse for 10 minutes.  Ginger teas always make me feel warm and this tea also alkalises the body and reduces inflammation.  I am intermittent fasting at the moment and ginger is supposed to help prevent hunger and increase the metabolism as well.  It is brilliant for the immune system and has even been linked to reducing the risk of cancer  The lemon provides vitamin C and increases the blood flow with the ginger.  We seem to get a lot of lemons from the Community fridge, and ginger was on offer at Lidl last week and so this is my go to at the moment.

Ginger and Honey Tea

1 tbsp of grated raw ginger (I freeze mine in ice cube trays and defrost over night)

500ml of boiling water.

Local honey to taste

I make this in a small pan.  I boil the water with the ginger in it for about 5 minutes and then allow it to cool for a few minutes, strain it, and add honey to taste.

I bought my honey from a local bee keeper.  It was about £7 at Christmas.  It felt like an expensive purchase but it is proper honey, and not like the fake honey that you buy in the supermarket.  It last ages and does not go off.  This tea is lovely and warming when you have just come in from the cold.  It helps with digestion, and is anti bacterial, and reduces inflammation.  It also helps with hay fever and eczema.

Fennel Tea

1 tsp of Fennel Seeds (add more or less to taste)

500ml of boiling water

Put the Fennel seeds into the pot and cover with the water.  Leave it to infuse for just over 5 minutes.

Crushing the fennel seeds before infusing can release more taste. I enjoy this one cold. I saved Fennel seeds from my garden this year for this very purpose.  I love the taste of aniseed and liquorice, which fennel reminds me of.  This tea helps regulate blood sugar, fights infections and is supposed to be good for period pain.  It is also great for expelling gas after a heavy meal!

Ginger, sage, Lemon, and Cayenne Pepper Tea

500ml of boiling water

An inch of ginger peeled and sliced

1The juice of one lemon

1/2tsp of cayenne pepper

5 sage leaves (mine have survived all winter)

Honey or maple syrup to taste.

Pour the boiling water over the ingredients and leave it to infuse for up to 10 minutes.  Strain, and add sweetness to taste.  This is brilliant if you have a cold.

Fresh Mint and Nettle Tea

500ml boiling water

3 young tips of nettle

3 sprigs of young mint.

Pour the water of the leaves and let it infuse for about 10 minutes. This tea is full of minerals and vitamins and helps to clean the blood.  It is also a diuretic and helps with urinary infections.  Nettles have been shown to help with arthritis, reduce asthma, help with hay fever, and destroy parasites.  They are even thought to reduce hair loss.  The mint reduces the taste of the nettles and makes it more palatable and gives provides a cooling effect.

 

It is obviously best to use organic ingredients if you can, unwaxed lemons, and filtered water, but if these are not viable for you, drinking these teas are still beneficial.  Growing a few herbs on your window sill will reduce the costs and be more organic than buying things from the supermarket.  I might even have a go at growing ginger this year. If foraging things like nettles make sure that you pick them away from where dogs may have been, and that you only pick the tips.  Later in the year I am going to experiment making teas with raspberry leaves, other foraged items, and dried currants.  Making an iced tea with Lemon Balm in the summer is refreshing and something that I already do as well.  What kinds of teas do you like to make?

 

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18 Comments

  1. Helen January 28, 2025 at 1:47 pm - Reply

    Lovely post I love loose tea I make it all the time. Never made my own although I have all sorts of teas not fruit teas, yuk. I love honey but can’t bear it in tea which is a shame. I’ll try some of these thank you.

    • ToniG January 28, 2025 at 6:18 pm - Reply

      No worries. Thanks for sharing. Yes I am not a big fruit tea fan, but am enjoying trying different, fresh teas.

  2. Charlotte Graves January 28, 2025 at 2:05 pm - Reply

    Great suggestions, thanks for helping me to think laterally about the ingredients in my kitchen!

    • Karan Fowler January 28, 2025 at 2:35 pm - Reply

      I like mint tea, I plant a mint tea plant and use the leaves 😋

      • ToniG January 28, 2025 at 6:15 pm - Reply

        Yes, mint was the only one I had really tried before besides lemon balm. It is really refreshing

    • ToniG January 28, 2025 at 6:17 pm - Reply

      No worries. That is what I am trying to do, too. I want to buy as little as I can from the supermarket this year.

  3. Gillian Bradburn January 28, 2025 at 2:30 pm - Reply

    Thank you. Some lovely ideas on here.

    • ToniG January 28, 2025 at 6:16 pm - Reply

      Thanks for commenting

  4. Julie Barton January 28, 2025 at 4:32 pm - Reply

    Lovely different flavour ideas thank you Toni xx

    • ToniG January 28, 2025 at 6:14 pm - Reply

      Thanks. We are hoping to try a lot more. Mr S has got the bug now

  5. Angela Carmody January 28, 2025 at 4:48 pm - Reply

    I have just had lemon and ginger tea but from a tea bag. We have ginger as got some on offer recently and have lemons, so will try it fresh. Thank you for reminding us about using the real thing.
    I don’t like nettle tea and a while ago tried mint tea from our mint but didn’t like it at all.
    I make lemon verbena cold and recently tried it hot but zi prefer it as a cold drink, also lemon balm.
    I might try raspberry leaves in the summer although I am wondering if it is safe for newly pregnant people. I drank it during the end of my second pregnancy and the birth was certainly a lot easier than the first time, baby arrived only 4 hours after getting at the hospital although I had been told to go home, I didn’t.

    • ToniG January 28, 2025 at 6:14 pm - Reply

      I don’t think that it is safe for newly pregnant people. I used it for child birth also, but it didn’t help me! Thanks for sharing

  6. Marielle January 28, 2025 at 5:52 pm - Reply

    I love this. Would you have any herb tea recipes with plants you can forage? Thank you so much for your help, I cannot say how much I enjoy reading each and every one of your posts.

    • ToniG January 28, 2025 at 6:11 pm - Reply

      I am quite new to herbal tea making but I did make an elderflower tea once. I will post some when I make some. Thanks for your kind comments

  7. Nicole January 29, 2025 at 11:06 am - Reply

    Great ideas. I tried making herbal teas for the first time last year. I prefer lemon verbena to lemon balm; it seems a bit “fresher” to me. Also, the leaves from a blackcurrant bush were good too.

    • ToniG February 1, 2025 at 12:08 pm - Reply

      Yes I thought that I would try currant, strawberry and blackberry leaves this year. I have read good things about them. I will have to try lemon verbena. Thanks

  8. Lou January 29, 2025 at 8:08 pm - Reply

    I love lemon and honey too!

    Nettle tea is super good for you, but my understanding is the best time to harvest them is in May – after this they can make the body more vulnerable to urinary infections.

    Have you tried lavender tea? That’s a nice floral and subtle one. And lemon verbena – you only need a few leaves to create a lovely flavour.

    • ToniG February 1, 2025 at 12:06 pm - Reply

      I have not tried lavender or lemon verbena tea. My lavender died a few years back. I have had it in shortbread. Young nettles are ok at any time, I like the early ones in spring. I never use them when they have seeds or are older.

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