This is out of The Best of Amish Cooking by Phyllis Pellman Good

Meadow Tea

1 cup sugar
1 pint water
1 cup fresh tea leaves (peppermint or spearmint)
juice of one lemon water

Stir sugar and pint of water together in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Pour boiling syrup over tea leaves and let steep 20 minutes. Remove the leaves and let tea cool. Add the lemon juice and enough water to make 1/2 gallon of tea. Serve either hot or cold. Makes 1/2 gallon.

I've used both Catnip & Rosemary in teas - particularly when I've had a cold. With a little honey & lemon, they are actually quite good. I imagine one could also add some of the lemony herbs to either as well.

I have to say that the Catnip tea did seem to help my cold, but perhaps that was due to the close proximity & warmth of the 6 cats in bed with me while I drank it - lol!!

I really enjoy herb teas, especially mint blends. Most of my recipes consist of: take a handful of herbs (a tightly packed handful if you are making a lot of tea); roll them between your palms to bruise them; pour boiling water over them; allow to steep for about 5-10 minutes; remove the herbs; sweeten slightly if desired; drink. Store leftovers in the fridge to make iced tea the next day.

In addition to the mints I like lemony herbs; lemon balm, lemon verbena and lemongrass.

Other plants I like in tea blends, although not usually as single ingredients are: raspberry, currant & strawberry leaves, mullein, lavender, red clover & calendula flowers, rose petals, common yarrow, bergamot, alfalfa and oregano leaves and flowers and lemon, orange and apple peels. Sage and rosemary can be used in small quantities, but they are too strong to use a lot. Sweet Cicely gives a bit of sweetness without imparting too much of a distinct flavour.

My favourite blend last year (it may change this year) used alfalfa leaves and flowers for calcium, red clover blossoms, calendula flowers, lemon balm and lemon verbena, strawberry leaves and orange peel. After it steeped, I added a bit of honey.

One of my favourite activities is heading out to the herb garden, vegetable garden and hayfields with my grandchildren to gather herbs for today's tea. They love helping to select what we will be drinking. Flowers picked with no stems are perfect for the brew : )

Forgot to add Anise Hyssop to my list. A lovely light licorice flavor. Mixes well with mints.

I also like to grow white horehound, which is very bitter but good for bronchial conditions. I only use it when needed; one sprig mixed with whatever other mints I have growing, such as lemon mint and spearmint (the lemon mint has been a weed for me since I first planted it behind my house; this year it appeared in front of the small border in the front of my house! A rather pleasant weed, though...) I sometimes throw in one leaf of feverfew if not feeling too well, but some have had problems with it on the Herbalism forum, so take that under advisement.

I like to put my handful of herbs in a baggie and mash vigorously with a mallet. Then I place them in a large (probably quart sized) microwaveable teapot and pour boiling water over them. I then put all in my microwave on Low until the flavor is strong enough. I use a lot of whole milk in my tisanes, and also sugar, especially if using horehound, so I like it strong.

I drink my herb teas hot in winter and cold in summer, with ice.

Dandelion tea is a good coffee substitute. Unfortunately, it takes a lot of work to dig up the roots, and many do not want dandelion in their gardens. (My local healthfood proprietor recently made me aware of an instant dandelion powder he sells! It also has chicory and barley extracts in it and I have been in 7th heaven since I purchased some. (I had to give up coffee, and love iced coffee in summer--it is the next best thing).)

I use either lemon balm or lemon verbena with fresh ginger. Just boil a handful of leaves with about 2 tablespoons of grated or minced ginger (no need to peel it) in a 4 quart pan. I let it steep for quite a while (maybe 30 minutes)before straining. Ginger is an anti-inflammatory and is also good for those of us with stomach problems...

Technically, unless you use tea leaves from an actual tea plant you are not making tea.

That being said I enjoy using mint to make my tanin colored hot water.

Tea, meaning an infusion (of herbs or manure, etc.), is also an acceptable definition of the word tea.

Tisane or ptisan is a decoction of any sustance which is potable. Technically, that would include camellia sinensis tea, herbal teas, barley water or even coffee, made by using boiling water to extract the essence.

You can also make tea by making sandwiches, cakes, cookies and a beverage and serving it at 4 o'clock in the afternoon. When I was newly married, my mother made the comment that I was the only person who invited her for tea and that was what she got, just the hot drink. I learned that lesson quickly.

I like this thread! More! I want more!

(I am not a natural-born cook....)

I am glad to see this info. posted. I have tried to aquire a taste for tea. Especially since I grow several mints. Honestly I have never had a cup of tea that hasn't tasted bitter. Unless I add alot of sugar but then that defeats one of the health reasons to drink it -IMO. I'll keep trying.

breezyb,

Ah, how sweet! My cats would attack me for their fix of catnip!

I like Catmint tea with honey and lemon. Nepeta is easy as pie to grow. If you bother to sheer it back the herb will put out lovely lavender-blue flowers all season long. Just watch out for the big fat fuzzy bees (they are kinda cute) that always seem to be around it.

My daughter wants to start making chamomile tea. She is growing it but we are kind of in a quandry what to do now. One place told us to dry the flowers but didn't give specifics. Do we use the stem, petals, flower head, or all of them? Do we have to wait until they are dried. We put some flower heads in my dehydrator but they became so small that they fell through the vents. :( Can we use them fresh? They are just small little daisy like flowers. How many should we use to make a decent flavored tea?

Thanks for any help!

you can, as far as i know, use the flowr heads fresh, or dry them. u just use the actual flowers, i'm not sure that u use the petals or not.

aparently you can dry flowers in a microwave.

and as for the teas i like; i grow watermint in my herb bed, amkes a nice tea. as does majoram odly enopugh. hop flowers make a good tea. and purple sage.

i have what i think is lemon catnip, it is a tall plant with an upright habit, it is lemony in scent and one of my cats likes to eat it (i'm sure she's not meant ot do that). i shall make some tea with that soon.

My favorite tea herbs that can be readily grown in 'most' gardens? Lemon verbena is very good. It is clean and lemony and called vervain tea in France. Similarly lemon balm is good and lemon grass. The mints of course. I prefer peppermint to spearmint. Bergamot mint makes a perfumey citrusy tea. Rose hips add a citrus flavor to tea. The scented thymes make nice tea, orange lemon etc. And of course the other scented mints, ginger etc. Common thyme I've found makes a surprisingly good tea especially when combined with mint (peppermint for me) I drank some for my sore throat/allergies and didn't expect it to be very palatable but while it was "medicina" it had a pleasent minty/camphoric flavor. Some basils particularly the strong clovey ones and the orange ones make nice tea. As well as fennel and anise (those favorite Italian herbs) Both are good for indigestion. Use fennel and anise seeds.... but I leaves? can also be used. Honeysuckle (japanese) (blossoms) makes a nice tea.... tastes like honeysuckle! And the more fragrant roses can be steeped and also lavender.... if you like the flowery teas. Jasmine makes a nice tea and is delicious dropped into black tea. Whatever you make enjoy. I grow all these plants in my garden (the honeysuckle is "wild") and enjoy them all in tea. :)

I have the same question about using flowers for tea. I'm growing hibiscus and want to use it for tea...also growing lemon balm, lemon thyme, and peppermint. Am I to use the petals only or the whole flower when brewing tea?

i think theirs only one type of hibiscus that is used in tea. and no i have no idea.

for the not bitter tea, try pineapple sage. it tastes sweet so shouldn't be bitter.

Mint Teas:
Makes a gallon - use only glass containers, plastic leaves a funny after taste. I use those glass jugs that apple juice/cider is often sold in.

Citris Mint Tea
(this is my Mom's favorite and I got the recipe from her):
In a large pan (eventually needs to comfortably hold a gallon of liquid), bring 5 cups water to boil.
Turn off heat and add a bunch of mint(I use 10-20 sprigs of mint, various kinds, and depending how strong I want it).
Add 10 pinches or teaspoons of loose black tea (again depending how strong you want the "tea" flavor). Cover and let steep for 2 (two) hours.

In a sauce pan, bring 5 cups water to boil, reduce heat and add 2 cups sugar (I only use one cup, because I don't like my tea too sweet), one cup lemon juice, and one frozen 12oz can orange juice concentrate. Keep well stirred until well disolved/mixed. Cover, turn off heat and let sit 2 hours.

after the two hour wait:
Add the juice mixture to the tea mix.
Add 8 cups cold water and stir/mix well.
Remove mint sprigs w/ tongs.
Strain mixture using a very fine strainer into 1 gallon jug and top off with cold water if needed. Shake jug and refrigerate. Serve cold, over ice. You may want shake jug prior to each serving.

Apple-Cinnamon Mint Tea
(This one I came up with by making substitutions to the above recipe, as I prefer apples to oranges)
In large pot (again eventually will hold nearly a gallon of liquid) bring 5 cups water to boil.
Turn off Heat
Add 10-20 sprigs mint
add 10 pinches-teaspoons loose black tea (to taste)
Add 2-3 cinnamon sticks. Don't use powdered cinnamon, it doesn't dissolve, found this out the hard way.
Cover and let steep 90 minutes.

In a saucepan bring the following to near boiling, but don't let it boil. Mainly just want it hot enough to get the sugar to dissolve:
4 cups unfiltered apple juice (has a cloudy white color to it)
2 cups cranberry juice (to replace the lemon tartness of the earlier recipe and complements apple better than lemon)
1/4 (1 quarter) cup brown sugar
Stir until dissolved/mixed
cover and turn off heat, let sit 90 mins.

I originally used frozen apple juice concentrate, but it ended up too syrupy/sticky for some reason - using the actual juice turned out much better.

After the 90 min wait:
Add juice mix to tea pot, turn on heat to get it all steaming again and stir well. Then cover and remove from heat for another 30-40 minutes.
Add 8 Cups cold water and stir.
remove mint and strain the mix into 1 gallon jug, top off with cold water if needed. Cap and shake jug, refrigerate and serve cold over ice.

To preserve the herbs for teas in the winter would freezing the herbs rather than drying give a more pungent flavour?

sugar in tea? yuck!!

my 7yo son and i built a tea grden this year using patio stones and alternating them with dirt patches to make a neat checkerboard pattern.

My favourite tea is made with lemon balm, lemon mint, and lemon catnip, and chamomile. (to prevent the cham from falling thru the cracks in the dehydrator lay the flowers on paper towel)

Another of my favourite blends is Chai. I take a mix of green and black loose leaf tea and add to it: Cassia buds (you can substitute cinnamon), Anise seeds, cardamom pods, ginger, cloves. TASTY!!! christmas in a cup!

Another is my licorice lemon blend. Green or black tea leaves (whatever im in the mood for, usually green tea for the health benefits) Anise seeds, fennel seeds, a few chamomile buds and a healthy dose of lemon zest.

Some of my favourite single herb teas are: Lemon Balm, Anise seed, spearmint, chamomile

If your tea is bitter you are steeping far too long. 1-3 minutes is all it takes or you will get a bitter tea. You can also steep leaves twice or even three times...

If your teas are tasting bitter, it is possible that the tea was 'burned' in the boiling water. Try heating your water to "JUST" boiling, then pour into another container and dip the teabag or teaball...slowly up and down a few times,then gently let it drop to the bottom of the teapot.

To acjazz28,
Here is a link to a catalog that has the seeds for the Hibiscus from which tea is made. Going to be trying some myself, loooove Hibiscus tea.

P.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hibiscus Tea

I'm enjoying reading all your ideas and recipes.

I can contribute an herbal one for when you have a sore throat:

One large bunch of Sage (Salvia officinallis)
One lemon (or the equivalent lemon juice)
Honey
One pot boiling water

Steep the sage leaves and the squeezed lemon and it's juice for at least 15 minutes.
Pour the tea in your cup and sweeten with some Honey depending on your taste, but you do need some.

The taste can be strange and not too likable, but it does work on a sore throat.
Sometimes I get a little carried away with the amount of sage and end up with a super strong pot , so I just dilute it when I pour it in the cup.

I buy tea bags from super markets, remove the staple and add to it about 5 grams( about half tea spoonful) of bilberry leaf powder and staple the tea bag.Use this bag to prepare the tea in conventional way.Cover it and wait for couple of minutes and drink it.At times I use dandilion leaf powder also.
Both of these teas help in managing diabetes along with prescribed medicines.Drink the tea half way between the prescribed medicine intake time which is about 3 hours before or after intake of prescribed medicines.This will safe guard any interaction betwwen the two.

An old Italian recipe for easing the symptoms of a bad cold or flu...is to boil apple peels and bay leaves, then drain off and keep the liquid..to which you add fresh lemon juice and honey to taste.
In Italy my friend served us a tea made with wild fennel seeds . These seeds are very small, much smaller than the fennel we grow in our garden or pick beside the Hiway 1 on the coast of California. The tea is an aide to digestion.
When we were young we would try all the herbs in teas. One cold winter evening we served tea made from the dried Basil I had from the previous summer. We were relaxed, warm and euphoric...I never tried it again, but I really believe it was the result of the Basil Tea.

I have been using dried Stevia leaves as a sweetener for brewing iced tea here in the south for my DH who insists on drinking sweet tea. Even he likes it! It's a wonderful sugar substitute, but not hardy. Replant yearly here in zone 7 NC. I fill a tea strainer with 2 heaping tbsp of dried Stevia and brew it with 6 tea bags for a large pitcher of sweet tea.