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Homemade Herbal Tea Blends

Homemade Herbal Tea Blends

Homemade Herbal Tea Blends. If you can boil water, you can craft your own herbal teas. Get creative with fresh & dried herbs, spices, flowers, citrus rinds. 

CRAFTING YOUR OWN HERBAL TEAS

Get creative with your tea blends

If you can boil water, you can make a tasty herbal tea to relax with or a healing herbal tea for whatever ails you.

Herbal teas are made from an infusion of fresh or dried flowers, leaves, seeds, roots, or grains steeped in boiling water. Herbal teas are delicious, served hot or iced. Since herbal teas don’t usually contain leaves from the tea plant or Camellia sinensis, they technically aren’t “teas” but rather tisanes.  But in America, we refer to them as herbal teas, so for simplicity’s sake, this book will too.  

Herbal teas have a long history of consumption for therapeutic purposes. Due to their perceived ability to treat medical maladies, dating back to Ancient Egypt and Ancient China. Think about it…before there were pharmacies and prescription pills, where did medicine come from?  Many every day drugs stem from nature, like common aspirin. Before the invention of aspirin tablets, people drank willow bark tea to treat fever, pain, and inflammation. Willow bark contains salicylic acid. Chemists created aspirin tablets containing similar synthetic compounds. Penicillin, first discovered in fungal mold, was later valued for its natural antibiotic properties.

The fragrant taste, antioxidant properties, and therapeutic applications all make herbal teas so popular.  Teas made with dried berries, cinnamon, and lemon balm, smell as good as they taste.  Lemon myrtle, oregano, and guava, all offer antioxidant benefits comparable to black teas. Herbal teas boast relief from low blood sugar to high cholesterol and everything in between.  The medical benefits of herbal teas remains controversial. Meaning United States laws prohibit the producers of herbal teas from making unsubstantiated health claims.   

Use caution when consuming herbal teas for medicinal purposes. Some medicinal plants become toxic in larger amounts.  When ingesting certain medicinal herbal teas, use caution. Limit quantities of herbal teas like comfrey and Lobelia. Comfrey contains liver damaging alkaloids. Lobelia contains toxins similar in effect to nicotine. Some herbs become deadly if consumed, like Foxglove and Deadly Nightshade.

Several medicinal herbs fall under the category of abortifacients. Never consume these herbal teas if pregnant. They may cause miscarriage. This includes but is not limited to: nutmeg, mace, papaya, bitter melon, verbena, saffron, slippery elm.

Herbs like licorice root elevate blood pressure, while kelp affects hyperthyroidism. Keep in mind because they come from a plant source, the ingredients in herbal teas may cause allergic reactions in some individuals.  

Always know the source of the ingredients used in homemade herbal tea blends. Like any crop, the flowers, leaves, seeds, roots, or grains used in herbal tea blends carry the risk of being contaminated with pesticides and heavy metals.  Chose organic ingredients.

Herbal tea companies offer a vast array of pre-packaged herbal tea blends online and in retail outlets. Natural food stores offer herbal tea blends in bulk, lowering their cost. But making your own herbal tea blends is easy, inexpensive, and fun. When making your own herbal tea blends, start with ingredients you recognize. Choose from fresh or dried herbs found in your pantry, garden, or natural foods store. Common herbal tea ingredients are also available online. Try unusual herbs in small quantities first, especially medicinal herbs, to make sure you like the taste. 

Keep in mind, medical effectiveness and claims of herbal teas, continues to be hotly debated. Whether herbal teas, infusions, or tinctures are a cure-all for everything or not, a few basic facts remain true when it comes to some common household herbs.  Mint aides the digestion, rosemary eases aches and pains, thyme clears the sinuses, chamomile makes you sleepy, and Echinacea is a potent, natural antibiotic. 

CAUTION: check with your health practitioner before consuming herbal teas. Certain herbs may cause adverse side effects like allergic reactions.  Some herbs may interfere with prescription medications.  Always discuss the use of herbal teas with your primary health care practitioner or physician, before consuming. DO NOT consume herbs or herbal teas if pregnant or breast feeding without consulting your primary health care practitioner or physician first.

None of the statements in this article have been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Herbal tea recipes and herbal teas are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease and are listed for entertainment purposes only.

LAVENDER – shown on feature image at top of page.  Add dried Lavender Blossoms to a tea ball. Put the tea ball in a pot of your favorite tea while brewing it along with the seeds scraped from  one-fourth  of a split Vanilla Bean.

PEPPERMINT & SPEARMINT are traditionally used to soothe an upset stomach.  Add 1 tablespoon fresh or 1 teaspoon dried mint leaves to a tea ball or use loose leaves. Add a bag of green rooibos tea and boiling water. Steep. For loose leaves, strain before drinking.  Caffeine-free Rooibos is low in tannins so it’s not bitter.  Grown in South Africa, the leaves of the Red Bush are traditionally used to soothe an upset stomach and relieve colic.  Combined with mint tea, Green Rooibos works wonder for nausea and other digestive aliments. 

ROSEMARY TEA is traditionally used to ease aches and pains. Add 1 tablespoon fresh or 1 teaspoon dried rosemary leaves to a tea ball or use loose leaves. Add a bag of green tea and boiling water. Steep. For loose leaves, strain before drinking.  Green tea also helps alleviate aches and pains due to epigallocatechin-3-gallate or EGCG. University of Michigan researchers found that EGCG relieves arthritis pain. An added bonus of drinking green tea is that it is low in caffeine but high in nutrients.  It also contains beneficial cancer fighting antioxidants. 

THYME is traditionally used to clear sinuses.  Whether you are suffering from a cold, a sinus infection, or allergies, drinking a hot cup of thyme tea will help unplug you. Add a inch slice of peeled ginger + 2 cups water to tea pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 10-15 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon fresh or 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves to a tea ball or use loose leaves. Add hot ginger water to cup and steep. For loose leaves, strain before drinking. You can also use a bag of 100% ginger tea. Ginger also eases congestion. 

CHAMOMILE tea is traditionally used to combat insomnia due to its nerve-soothing and sedative qualities. German chamomile is slightly stronger than Roman chamomile. Add 2 to 3 teaspoons of Chamomile buds to a tea ball and steep in boiling water for 5 minutes.  If using loose tea buds, strain before drinking. Chamomile’s reputation for fighting bacterial infections and boosting immunity is due its botanical phenolic, hippurarte. 

ECHINACEA OR PURPLE CONE FLOWER is traditionally consumed for its ability to ward off colds or to shorten the duration of a cold. Traditional tea making won’t give you the maximum benefits of Echinacea like a tincture will, since alcohol better preserves its. Look fro an Echinacea Tincture online or at your local natural foods store. 

RASPBERRY – ROSEHIP TEA RECIPE

On this link – http://www.acleandiet.com/beverages/homemade-rosehip-tea/

WHERE TO FIND DRIED ORGANIC HERBS…if you can’t find dried organic herbs in the bulk spice section of your natural food store, you can find them online from Mountain Rose Herbs at MOUNTAIN ROSE HERBS  

Metatags – Homemade Herbal Tea Blends. If you can boil water, you can craft your own herbal teas. Get creative with fresh & dried herbs, spices, flowers, citrus rinds.