How to make Herbal Tea From Your Garden

How to make herbal tea from your garden is easy and refreshing. During the hot humid summer months, I love making my own sun tea. Mixing different herbs for an exotic taste, or just simply one herb at a time.

Most Commonly Used

Although there’s a lot of herbs, flowers and wild foraging that can be used for teas. But for this tutorial, I’m going to list the most commonly used and most readily available garden herbs and flowers.

• Thyme
• Sage
• Oregano
• Lemon Balm, Lemon Grass and Lemon Verbena
• Mint, Peppermint
• Lavender
• Chamomile
•   Rosemary
• Ginger
• Fennel
• Dandelion
• Basil
• Catnip
• Calendula
• Rose hip
• Echinacea
• Bee Balm
• parsely
• Borage
• Cilantro
• Passionflower
• German Chamomile

There are many varieties, with some of these herbs. Such as the mint family, I love the peppermint, but the chocolate mint is my favorite! And yes, it really does taste like chocolate. My other favorite herb is the thyme family, the lemon thyme is really great paired with lemon balm. You’ll get a lovely array, of different notes and flavors. So don’t be afraid of trying out different combinations. Not only that, they are good for you, and your over all health. I go out into my herb garden daily and pick a few just to eat. I love parsely, not only do I use it in my teas. But I also add it to my salads and low carb sandwiches. I love that peppery minty flavor, and it cleans your palate with a refreshing taste.

 How To Make Herbal Tea From Your Garden

Depending on the amount of tea your wanting to make. A good rule of thumb is a 1/4 of cup to a 1/2 a cup of fresh herbs, per 1 cup of water. If using dried herbs, Start with a teaspoon of the mixed dried herbs per 1 cup of water.

Since I’m making sun tea, using the heat of the sun to infuse my herbal tea. I picked my herbs early in the morning, rinsed them off well. Then placed them in a clean quart mason jar, before adding my water. You can use any size jar you wish for sun tea, just remember to add up the amount of water cups for the amount of fresh herbs you’ll need.

Herbs

• 8 leaves of fresh lemon balm
• 4 fresh lavender flowers
• 2 fresh oregano sprigs
• 8 lemon thyme sprigs
• 4 fresh sage leaves

A quart canning jar holds 4 cups of water, so I filled my jar with 1 1/2 cups of mixed herbs. I didn’t want a real strong flavor with this tea, but you can make it as strong as you wish. Fill up your jar with water and place a lid on it, then let the sun do the rest. At the end of the day I place my tea in the fridge over the night. Then strain it the next day, so it’s nice and cold for a refreshing drink. You can add a lemon slice and a sweetener of choice.

Hot Herbal Tea

If your wanting a hot herbal tea for the cooler mornings or to relax in the evening. It’s pretty much the same process as making your cold tea. 

Ingredients

• Fresh or dried herbs (if using dried herbs, start with 1 teaspoon)
• 1 cup of water for tea
• Kettle (optional)
• Lemon or Orange slice (optional)
• Sweetener (optional)

For Tea

Bring the water to a boil, then let it set for 5-10 minutes. Add all the herbs and let them steep for 5 minutes or until desired flavor is reached. Strain into a tea cup and add your sweetener to taste, then your lemon or orange.

One of my favorite ways to drink my summer herbal teas, is with maple water. I tap maple trees in late Feb, and freeze several pint canning jars of freshly tapped sap. So I can use it during summer for tea and winter for my morning coffee. If you’ve never drank fresh maple sap, your missing out on a wonderful drink! Maple water or sap, is absolutely delicious. It has a light sweetness to it, just perfect for teas and coffee.