Project 9: Make Your Own Tea

Why would you want to do this? You can achieve an unlimited variety of blends, your homemade tea tastes better than store-bought tea, and making your own tea bags is an easy, quick project as well as a fun gift idea.

Why wouldn’t you want to do this? You don’t drink tea, or you don’t want to spend time making your own.

Is there an easier way? If you make a big batch of tea bags at one time, you’ll be set for a while. Another option is to crumble your favorite herbs or herb mixes and keep them in a dark, airtight container in your kitchen. When you want a quick cup, you can scoop out the leaves on the spot.

Cost comparison: You can make 100 tea bags for about the same price as a store-bought package of 20 tea bags; the cost is even less if you grow your own herbs.

Learn more about it: The Herb Tea Book (Interweave Press, 1998) by Susan Clotfelter is a great compilation of recipes and ideas for making and using your own teas and tea blends.

One of the best uses for homegrown herbs is in tea, and fresh herbal tea is one of the best kinds of tea.

My friend Bridget makes tea with her own herbs. I told her once, at one of our many teatimes together, how much I admired the practice, and she looked at me, completely flabbergasted. When I sheepishly confessed that I still bought tea, she exclaimed, “I can’t believe that anyone who has herbs doesn’t make [his or her] own—it’s ridiculous not to!”

That moment was my moment of change. I can understand buying tea from the same perspective as I can understand buying any of the things that I talk about making in this book. It’s faster to grab a box of tea than it is to produce it yourself, especially if you want a variety of flavors. But really, once you’ve made your own tea and have seen how easy it is, how much money you can save, and how much better the tea tastes, you’ll understand how Bridget felt.

The first step to making tea is drying your herbs, which I discuss in Section V, Project 1. You can brew tea with dried herbs by using infusers, strainers, or bags.

Infusers sink down into a cup or pot and come in many forms; for example, there are spring-controlled mesh spoons as well as infusers with screw-on lids and chains to hang from the lip of your cup or pot. Silicone infusers, which are growing in popularity, come in a lot of fun shapes. Infusers are nice in that there is no waste when the tea is done steeping, and the herbal matter itself can go straight into the compost. (Tea bags can be composted also, but you have to pay attention to what they are made of. Silk tea bags are gorgeous, but they are expensive and do not compost.)

This type of tea infuser sits at the bottom of the cup or mug.

Another type of infuser hangs from a chain.

A tea strainer sits on top of your cup or pot and holds the loose tea without a lid; you pour your boiled water straight through it. A strainer is easier to clean than an infuser is, but depending on the depth of the strainer, it may not hold the leaves in the liquid and will thus yield a weaker decoction.

A tea strainer sits across the top of the teacup.

You can buy empty tea bags to fill—some natural-food stores have them in the tea aisle near the loose tea sold in bulk, or you can order them online. Some bags have a simple double-fold flap that you fold over the top after filling the bag with herbs; others can be stapled closed after folding. My favorite is the type that seals shut with a quick pass of an iron across the open end. A box of homemade tea bags makes a unique holiday or hostess gift.

The following instructions are for brewing a cup of tea using your own dried herbs. Keep in mind that homegrown and dried herbs often have stronger flavors than store-bought herbs because they are fresher and most likely dried in gentler conditions, so you may choose to adjust your quantities or steeping time accordingly. The chart on pages 56–59 explains the names and properties of many herbs commonly used in tea, but it is by no means exhaustive. There’s much more to learn about herbs, their myriad uses in teas, and their many other benefits.

Materials/Ingredients:

•Tea infuser, tea strainer, or fillable tea bags

•Dried herbs of your choice

Step 1: Fill the infuser, strainer, or tea bag with 1–2 tablespoons of the desired herb or variety of leaves and place on or in the mug.

Step 2: Pour freshly boiled water through the strainer or over the bag or infuser in the mug.

Step 3: Let the herbs steep for three to five minutes, depending on your desired strength. Stronger herbs shouldn’t steep for much longer than five minutes, as they will impart a bitter taste.

Step 4: Remove the strainer, infuser, or bag. Sweeten and add milk to your tea as desired. Note: The herb stevia (see chart below) is a natural sweetener, and you can include it right in your tea blend.

Common Herbal Tea Ingredients

Unless specified that they should be dried, herbs can be brewed either fresh or dried

Camellia (Camellia sinensis) Parts used: leaves, dried properly

This is grown in India and China for the well-known English Breakfast and Darjeeling varieties of caffeinated tea that many of us are familiar with. Green tea and black tea also come from this plant but are dried to different degrees. C. sinensis is an easy shrub to grow and keep small, and it contains many powerful antioxidants. It is the only ingredient listed here that is a caffeinated addition to tea.

Mint (Mentha spp.) Parts used: leaves

Any species of mint, including spearmint and peppermint, is great for making tea. The taste and aroma of mint leaves can invigorate and energize, and they are beneficial for digestion.

Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) Parts used: leaves

Melissa looks and behaves like mint and is a good companion for mint tea blends, but it has a strong, almost sweet, lemony flavor. It is a digestive herb, and it also serves to strengthen the immune system.

German chamomile (Matricaria recutita) Parts used: flowers

Chamomile is a traditional bedtime tea because its herbal qualities invoke feelings of calm and relaxation. It has a sort of dusty, tangy flavor that appeals to many, and it is often used as a digestive aid.

Catnip (Nepeta cataria) Parts used: leaves, flowers

Although the catnip plant is in the mint family and is used to make cats playful and energetic, it has the opposite effect on humans, serving as a powerful soother in tea. A blend of tea with catnip helped me through a particularly stressful home-remodeling project.

Cinnamon (Cinnamomum spp.) Parts used: sticks

Cinnamon sticks are one of the few tea ingredients that you’ll have to buy rather than grow yourself. You can use cinnamon sticks to stir your tea, or you can crumble them into a tea blend to be steeped. Powdered cinnamon is too fine and is very strong; it will muck up your concoction and contribute a very bitter taste.

Cloves (Syzygium aromaticum) Parts used: dried flower buds

As with cinnamon, you’ll have to purchase cloves for your tea and use them carefully to achieve a good flavor. Crushed whole cloves are stronger and can impart a bitterness to the finished product. I sometimes put whole cloves into the blend when making a pot for more than four cups, but I use only three to five cloves. Clove and cinnamon are both used in mulling spices, and they get me into the spirit of the season around the winter holidays.

Echinacea (Echinacea purpurea) Parts used: flowers, leaves

Echinacea is an easy-to-grow perennial plant that has gained fame for its curative properties; I swear by echinacea tea during cold and flu season. Like chamomile, it acts as a soothing ingredient and can have a similar dustiness in flavor, but it has a slightly more floral overtone.

Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) Parts used: seeds

In India, people eat fennel seeds after meals as a digestive aid. When added to tea blends, the seeds impart gentle licorice overtones that I find subtly invigorating.

Lemon verbena (Aloysia triphylla) Parts used: leaves

This herb is tricky to grow in colder climates, but if you can grow it, you’ll never regret it. Lemon verbena is wonderful to cook with, and it imparts a more pungent, direct lemon flavor in teas than lemon balm does. It is a calming herb that aids digestion and sleep.

Lemon peel Parts used: peel (also called zest)

A squeeze of lemon juice in brewed tea is hardly a novel idea, but you can also use lemon peel, fresh or dried, in your tea blend. Go light on the peel, as the essential oils in it can overpower the mix easily. Orange peel can be used the same way.

Rose, wild (Rosa spp.) Parts used: leaves, rosehips (seedpods)

Living in the City of Roses (Portland, Oregon), I learned early on that the lovely hybrid tea roses that are used in bouquets and displays are not for candying, steeping, or adding to concoctions; wild roses are the roses that we can ingest. Rose petals in tea give a lovely, gentle floral scent and can serve as a digestive aid. Rosehips are a powerful source of vitamin C and useful with echinacea in tea for a cold or flu.

Rosemary (Rosimarinus officinalis) Parts used: (needle-like) leaves

Generally more of a savory herb, rosemary can be judiciously added to a tea blend to impart its strong, invigorating scent. Rosemary acts as an herbal antidepressant, digestive aid, and mild stimulant.

Sage pineapple (Salvia elegans) and clary (Salvia sclarea) Parts used: flowers, leaves

While the extensive sage family is used for both culinary and medicinal purposes, these two varieties have sweeter essences and are better additives to tea than some of their cousins.

Scented geraniums (Pelargonium spp) Parts used: flowers, leaves

These are not your grandmother’s bright-red Martha Washington geraniums. Scented geraniums are a different family, and they have a wide variety of scents and flavors as the result of extensive hybridization. They, like roses, can impart a sweet, gentle floral overtone to your tea.

Stevia (Stevia rebaudiana)Parts used: leaves, flowers

Stevia is a natural sweetener, having many times the sweetness of refined sugar; it also aids in digestion and has many other uses. It is challenging to grow in colder climates but can be a houseplant.

Thyme common (Thymus vulgaris) or lemon or lime thyme (Thymus citriodorus) Parts used: leaves and flowers

Lemon or lime thyme is a better addition to tea than the garden-variety culinary thyme, but any type of this herb will contribute a pungent flavor to the tea. Thyme is a familiar and potent healing herb that is used to help ease the symptoms of colds and coughs through ingestion.

Nettle (Urtica dioica) Parts used: leaves

Use caution when harvesting fresh nettles because small hairs on the plants produce a stinging reaction. They do not sting when they are dried, and they are strong herbs for respiratory and circulatory health, possessing anti-inflammatory qualities. They are rich in vitamins and minerals—and also make a great pesto!

Cinnamon