# Herbal tea



## *Andi (Nov 8, 2009)

Your favorites ... and why

Right now ... I'm into Alfalfa tea ... which is awesome.. And yea, I have plans to add a small patch to my herb garden. 

What is your favorite herb tea and why???


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## Immolatus (Feb 20, 2011)

Im into my lemon balm right now, drinking it every day. It smells and tastes good, and the plants are going nuts, while my mint got pretty stunted.
I guess I can dehydrate a ton of it for the winter? It wont be as good, but I'll have it in abundance. Can I? I guess I dont need to dehydrate it, duh, I can just bag a ton of it and let it dry out on its own... I just got the dehydrator last week, so Im itchin to dry out anything I can. Only made jerky so far.


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## Sewing dove/ Wy (Aug 30, 2009)

*herb teas*

i always throw in stuff that i need, like raspberry leaves, and horsetail for my hair and nails, and catnip or hops to relax. plus things that taste good like catnip, mint, rose petals or hips, and then if i'm sick maybe some yarrow or mullein. most flowers are good but look them up first. that's what i have close around. keep willow bark dried and some lemon balm, lemon peel, lemon thyme, or lemon grass. still have a good supply of uva ursi and juniper berries, and geranium flowers are good antivirals. lots of choices.


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## NaeKid (Oct 17, 2008)

My morning tea can be anything from EnglishBreakfast to EarlGrey - lunch-time I like having a peppermint or a Chai and for the evening I like chamomille or something of that sort. I also have white-teas, green-teas, raspberry teas, orange and lemon teas ... I like tea.

But, I also love coffee - I am a bit of a coffee-snob. I hate drip coffee makers - I prefer the full flavor of perk'd coffee and I will spice it up depending on my moods ...


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## Emerald (Jun 14, 2010)

Mint, chamomille, and red hibiscus.. some ginger too. 
if you're going to be drying herbs don't stuff them into bags.. they will just mold.. I put thick layers in my dehydrator and set it to the lowest heat it has and check every hour, you don't want to over dry it as it will lose it's flavor.
Or you can also just bundle it with a rubber band and hang up to dry with a paper bag over it to keep the dust down.
I like lemon balm but it kinda reminds me of lemon pledge. I have a clump of lemon grass in a pot that does well in the house in the winter and the flavor of that is much nicer in tea. I also love a bit of lemon thyme in teas.

But lately I have been so busy that I have just been buying my favorite teas ans stocking them up. 
Bigalow's sweet dreams and Stache's pomegranate and red raspberry Mache.

Plus regular teas like earl grey and green jasmine.

Next year I will be drying my own mints and lemon balm and I have raspberry plants out the ying-yang! and they spread like little monsters. all the little ones that hubs mows would do wonderful for drying. Plus drying a few of the berries to add a bit of sweetness.
I am also thinking about harvesting a few of the blueberry bushes leaves as they are supposed to be good for regulating blood sugars. Plus there are tons of wild blueberries near here that would probably have better leaves for that.

I am also thinking about getting a few more jars of cinnamon sticks.. a small amount in tea is quite nice along with the peels from citrus.. I have three citrus trees and while the orange is very edible the peel goes well in cooking.


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## alergyfree (Feb 15, 2011)

Mine is Essiac, for aches, pains,energy,regularity...
Essiac - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## Woody (Nov 11, 2008)

Where to start! I harvest and dry (by bundling and air dry) lots of different herbs. The only one I remember doing by itself is the Chamomile. It is so delicate that even a pinch of anything else seems to overpower it. You can mix with it but by itself I like it.

For my usual aches and pains teas I go with Skullcap and Valerian (actually a decoction but same basic idea). The Valerian is like sucking down used socks at first but a few sips into it and it is more palatable. The skullcap mixes well with anise hyssop (at least for my palate) and has a better aroma that by itself. I have kind of gotten away from these two in teas and prefer my tinctures. They seem to work faster and I can better control the dosage. I can tincture 5 or 6 quart jars and press out 2 or 3 quarts of tincture into a crock before labeling and jarring it up. All from this batch will be exactly the same strength so I know ¼ ounce will do this or I need a full ounce to make it go away, that sort of dosage regulation. Herbs seem to vary in strength year by year so doing a large tincture batch keeps me supplied for several years.

For most of my other tea drinking I like to mix and match. I don’t go by any specific rules like this is good for that and such, I go by what I feel like having at the time. Aromatherapy I call it! Wafting through a few jars of dried herbs can sometimes do even more than drinking the teas. I walk over to the cabinet and look over the jars and decide what I feel like, say a lemon tea. I put some lemon balm in the bowl and browse the other jars, taking time to open a few and take a sniff. Pinch of cats mint, a smidgeon of blue hyssop and perhaps a passion flower or two. Or maybe an Anise Hyssop base with some savory and a couple chamomile flowers. I then do a light grinding of the herbs together and put into the tea ball and mug. As I relax and sip the tea I keep it close to my nose so I can breathe in the aroma.

For store bought I like Celestial seasonings Green Tea with white tea. The Dr’s prefer me not to do caffeine so this is my winter time coffee. Not a lot of tea drinking in the summer (perhaps the preference for tinctures?) due to it being hot as the dickens down here. In the growing season I like to chew on a few leaves from the herb garden as I go about weeding or watering.


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## *Andi (Nov 8, 2009)

Celestial teas ... 

Someone gave me a Celestial dream tea (I wish I could remember the name of it ...) once in a gift pack... WOW ... All I will say is that it worked. Man, the dreams ...  lol

I need to look up what herbs were in that tea.  lol


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## *Andi (Nov 8, 2009)

Pine needle tea is next on the list ... I found some white pines (what my book calls for ) and so I'm hooked up. 

Come Saturday ... My first pot of pine needle tea. (any tips? )


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## kappydell (Nov 27, 2011)

Im fondest of the tea I can just go outside and pick - chamomile, pinapple weed (a relative a chamomile that tastes like pinapple that the old settlers used to use), catnip, wild mints (gotta taste test those, some are good, some are not but none will hurt you), bermagot, motherwort, and yarrow (for colds).


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## lhalfcent (Mar 11, 2010)

I have a juniper tree in my backyard where we are renting at the moment and just picked wonderful dark blue/black berries.
worked some into stuffing at thanksgiving ...interesting flavor! lol 
i have used them in tea combinations. real sinus buster.
speaking of tea...making a cup of jasmine green tea. got a winter storm on the way and the wind is blowing crazy.
cup of tea is so comforting.


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## *Andi (Nov 8, 2009)

lhalfcent, Sounds great ... :flower: and be careful with the storm.

I was surprised with the taste of the pine needle tea, it was rather nice.  I can see myself making more it.


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## lhalfcent (Mar 11, 2010)

pine needle tea is interesting. lol as for the storm, so far 2 inches with possibly 3 more inches by morning. finally it is starting to look like minnesota! LOL


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## catsraven (Jan 25, 2010)

Chamomile, rose hip, lemon grass, lavender, ginger. I make a spice tea made of cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and ginger with a tiny bit of black pepper.


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## lhalfcent (Mar 11, 2010)

catsraven said:


> Chamomile, rose hip, lemon grass, lavender, ginger. I make a spice tea made of cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and ginger with a tiny bit of black pepper.


sounds similar to Chai. I love chai.


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## *Andi (Nov 8, 2009)

catsraven said:


> Chamomile, rose hip, lemon grass, lavender, ginger. I make a spice tea made of cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and ginger with a tiny bit of black pepper.


Hmmm ... very interesting ... 

Thanks for sharing, :flower:


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## kappydell (Nov 27, 2011)

Hiya, Woodchuck! Ive used skullcap & valerian with hops and made a great sleepy-time tea. Liked it better than the OTc pills, no drowsy-hangover. It worked a lot faster, too. Just woke up refreshed. Peppermint added will make it taste a bit better, but I keep it mixed and handy as a sort of herbal sedative, so taste is secondary. 1halfcent, I have read aout juniper berries being very germicidal, anti-scorutic and good for sinuses, but have never had the opportunity to use any. Do they really taste like gin? That was supposed to be what they flavored it with back in the day...


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## Falcon (Dec 27, 2011)

Herbal tea helps in burn fat and boosts metabolism. The recent study reported that 3 – 5 cups of tea per day can help you burn more than 70 calories per day, which amounts to 7 pounds per year.


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