During the summer I dehydrated different herbs, fruit, and wild ingredients to make herbal teas. Herbal teas are a fairly new thing in my life, but a way I have found useful to add more medicinal properties in to my diet. I think that as a society we have forgotten that food and drink doesn’t just fill our bellies, it also keeps our bodies healthy, or at least it did once when we ate more natural food.
This is the first time that I have decided to blend my own herbal teas. I have always drunk an odd fresh herbal tea, but this is the first year that I have dried ingredients to drink teas throughout the year.
Last winter was the beginning of me drinking herbal teas regularly. My motive was to drink them not only for their medicinal qualities, but their therapeutic impact. I was bought some for Christmas. I couldn’t afford to buy good quality, organc teas, and so I decided to make my own. Initially I didn’t like the taste, but then found ones that I liked by experimenting. I hate hot drinks and so I drink them cold.
Most of my ingredients are foraged or grown, but I did buy some chamomile as it doesn’t do well in my garden. I also bought dried Hibiscus flowers. These will last me more than a year with my own ingredients.
Benefits of blending my own teas.
It saves me money. I bought 3 lots of good quality, organic tea bags last winter with my allowance. They ranged from £2.99 to £5.99 and I had drunk all of them in a couple of months. However,most of my ingredients are free. Now that I have a drink that I like, I don’t buy other drinks like juice from the supermarket, or home made cordial. As previously said, I drink my herbal teas cold as I have never liked hot drinks. They are really refreshing with ice in summer.
I am in control. I know that there are no chemicals and the ingredients have been fresh and organically grown.
It tastes better. The tea blend hasn’t been sitting on the shelf for ages and so is fresher.
Customisation. I can adapt the teas to my taste preferences or to the medicinal use I need. Experimenting brings out my creative side and also gives me more choice of blends than I would find on the high street.
I feel more connected to nature. As I sip my tea it will bring back summer memories of foraging and growing. I can picture where they grew. The herbs I grow are also pollinators for beneficial insects.
The ingredients are good for me. Many of the ingredients that I use have proven medicinal qualities. I drink teas to help my digestion, for heart health, for headaches, to calm anxiety, and to aid memory, for example.
It is sustainable. I have a constant supply whilst eliminating packaging and reducing my carbon foot print.
Quick run down of therapeutic properties of my ingredients
Nettle is anti inflammatory and helps with arthritis and hayfever
Rosemary is great for improving memory and helping me focus. It is also great for hair growth
Lemon balm is calming and great for relieving stress and helps with relaxation.
Fennel seeds ease menapause symptoms and aid digestion. They also help with stomach cramps and help regulate bloood sugar.
Hawthorn great for the heart
Mint helps with digestion and respiratory issues. It is great for my IBS. It is also supposed to be good for headaches and muscle aches.
Blackcurrant leaves are anti inflammatory and eases jooint pain. It is also good for the urinary tract.
Camomile is anti inflamatory and has a sedative effect.
Hibiscus is anti inflammatory,, lowers blood pressure and cholesterol, and is good for liver health.
Berries amongst other things they are anti inflamatory and help with heart health.
Drying herbs and ingredients
It has been a warm summer and so I have dried most of mine by the sun. Some times I hang them in bunches in my kitchen.
How to blend them.
1. I have watched some you tubes on blending teas and they all say the start with a base herb. This will be your main flavour. These include things like mint, fennel or chamomile.
2. The supporting flavour is next and will enhance the base herb and add more therapeutic properties. You may add lemon balm to mint, for instance, or chamomile with berries. The idea is that you experiment to find a combination that you like.
3. Adjust the amounts of each herb so that you have a balance as some herbs are a lot stonger than others. It is important to balance the flavours.
4. Think about the therapeutic effect that you are trying to achieve. There is no point in putting a herb that stimulates you with something calming. Eg peppermint and chamomile.
5. Be creative and add other ingredients such as dried berries, citrus peel, or spices into your blend. I love ginger in my teas.
6. Keep a note of your recipes and ratios when you find a blend that you like. I will put some recipes on another blog.
Warning
Before drinking your own blends of herbal teas, always check with your doctor if taking medication, or if you are pregnant.
Other tea blogs
Drinking home made teas made from what we have
Very interesting Toni, I’ve been using lemon balm and mint from my garden in drinks since becoming a member of the group but reading this has inspired me to branch out more. Many thanks. xx
I make Lemon balm and Lemon verbena drinks and prefer it cold. I have tried our mint but think I will find some Spearmint as I didn’t like the mint tea I made, I have Tesco’s though so think I either made it too strong or the wrong mint.
I also dried blackcurrant leaves last year so thank you for reminding me as I had forgotten all about them.
Nettle tea, I think someone or thing is telling me I need Nettle tea. I don’t like it but can drink it. No matter how much we try to get rid of nettles in our front garden planters the most healthiest large nettle plants grow. I must try drying them this year. They might even help my arthritis.
Lovely article Toni I drink quite a few herbal teas and want to make some basic ones of my own from my foraged herbs I grow . Want to dry more fruits and flower heads this year to add to them. Its one of my bingo squares. Will be picking the Gorse flowers soon enough like I did last year. X
Started using mint from the garden for peppermint tea and it’s a world away from a shop bought teabag .
I remember buying raspberry leaves tea to take towards the end of pregnancy and never clicked that it’s just raspberry leaves which are so plentiful . We often miss what’s under our noses . Good reminder 👍
I’m going to do this as I have an abundance of herbs in my garden, thank you
No worries.