The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Growing => Herbs => Topic started by: waterbuffalofarmer on February 28, 2016, 01:56:17 pm
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A lot of us grow herbs and I grow quite a lot of peppermint and I was wondering if anyone had ever made any tea out of what they grow and possibly the process involved? Would be great to know what you think guys :)
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In Greece, where I come from, herbs picked off the mountain are very commonly used as herbal tea. Simply pour boiling water over your chosen herb(s), let it steep, strain through a sieve (or use a loose leaf tea 'infuser' i.e. a sieve made to fit into a mug or tea pot). You can use fresh or dried herbs - which ones you like is all down to personal taste. I have used mint, chamomile and sage grown here, and when my folks visit I always ask them to bring me bunches of mountain herbs for tea.
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I make my own herbal tea. I just dry the herbs and store them in an airtight container and take a bit out when i want some tea. Make the tea as you would with tea leaves. My favourite is made from my chocolate peppermint. simples :)
You can also buy coffee filters and fill them with dried herbs and then sew them into a tea bag and you have herbal tea bags
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I also have chocolate peppermint, I wasn't sure what sort of a tea it would make but i have tons of it growing during the summer and if you step on it the garden smells delicious :D
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I have also used it to make ice cream - lovely!
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I love this question - teas/tisanes/herbal concoctions were made from the living plants long before someone had the bright idea of selling dried herbs as tea bags.
As well as the usual peppermint tea (with a slice of lemon and a dot of honey), you can infuse almost anything which isn't poisonous, although most taste disgusting. I often use a mix of nettle tips (great for UTIs but tastes vile) with feverfew (usually used for headache), any kind of mint, plus a bit of thyme and some monarda, lemon balm, raspberry leaves or anything else which is in season, with my usual dot of honey. Any of these can be used on their own of course, but I love to play around with mixes. Rosehips can be used in winter when your choice is limited.
Nettles used to be used as a spring internal cleanser and to give some much needed vitamins etc after the long winter. They went into potage too - I hope they washed them, as nettles grow where people have pee'ed :o
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dried backberry leaves .
I've used them to make an infusion to add to rabbits drinking water if I noticed they were becoming a bit loose . It is quite effective but not as effective as using fresh fed leaf.
I was advised by a herbalist that regular drinks of a strong nettle tea is supposed to be very good for men at keeping prostate cancer at bay . Specifiably it has been a known cancer inheritance.
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My Mrs makes her own tea as she does not like my Yorkshires.
She uses rose bay willow (fireweed). nettles,dandelion,raspberry leaf and many others.
The fireweed is also known as Ivans Tea in Russia,you can have it dried or fermented and the other half makes both.
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Sounds lovely that. How does it taste? [member=168230]Charlie1234[/member] ?
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My Mrs loves it but I dont like it :innocent:
It does not have the same tar like appearance I am used to lol
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I also have chocolate peppermint, I wasn't sure what sort of a tea it would make but i have tons of it growing during the summer and if you step on it the garden smells delicious :D
Pick herb (about 2-3 inches of stem+leaves for mint). Put in mug. Boil kettle. Pour over. Mash a bit with spoon. Fish out any floating critters ::) Drink when no longer boiling. Top up with boiling water whenever. Add to compost heap when no longer tastes of anything.
;D :innocent:
On a serious note, taste and strength of flavour are very personal / subjective, so I'd just play around. You could look up the blend ingredients of packets of herbal tea you enjoy?
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I also have chocolate peppermint, I wasn't sure what sort of a tea it would make but i have tons of it growing during the summer and if you step on it the garden smells delicious :D
Pick herb (about 2-3 inches of stem+leaves for mint). Put in mug. Boil kettle. Pour over. Mash a bit with spoon. Fish out any floating critters ::) Drink when no longer boiling. Top up with boiling water whenever. Add to compost heap when no longer tastes of anything.
;D :innocent:
On a serious note, taste and strength of flavour are very personal / subjective, so I'd just play around. You could look up the blend ingredients of packets of herbal tea you enjoy?
Thanks for that [member=3961]YorkshireLass[/member] will certainly try it. The only herbal tea I drink is peppermint, and some green tea and chamomile tea too although not a big fan of the green tea, mum likes it though :) I was really thinking of it because my mum drinks a lot of peppermint tea, so I was thinking maybe of something which would be a cheaper alternative to buying it and also I would know what had gone into the mint leaves. I am thinking though that chocolate mint is certainly more potent than peppermint? What about the health properties wise, would it be just as good for the digestion do you think?
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My choc mint was a lot less potent as a tea than I thought it would be from the raw plant.
As for properties, I am guessing that the main compounds will be present, but I have no idea to what extent or how variable this is.
Oh, pineappleweed flowers make a nice, sweet tea. They're the ones that look like mayweed or low growing chamomile but without petals.
http://wildflowerfinder.org.uk/Flowers/P/PineappleWeed/PineappleWeed_2007_07_27_HallRoad_Formby_Freshfield_500p1.jpg (http://wildflowerfinder.org.uk/Flowers/P/PineappleWeed/PineappleWeed_2007_07_27_HallRoad_Formby_Freshfield_500p1.jpg)
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Always fancied trying out nettle tea, as fresh nettle is supposed to be the best.
I would imagine most wild herbs and plants would make a good, healthy brew.
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Always fancied trying out nettle tea, as fresh nettle is supposed to be the best.
I would imagine most wild herbs and plants would make a good, healthy brew.
The first nettle shoots of spring are best, for eating steamed too. The tea tastes particularly dire though, so add some mint and lemon and maybe a dot of honey to make it drinkable, then think of all the good it's doing you ;D . My nettles haven't come through yet, but I'm waiting for them.
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Lime flower tea is another easy traditional option, Or you could just grow camelia sinesis in a lot of the UK
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I love herbal tea and I love the ideas here.
It is so easy to collect plants, dry them and pure hot water over them to make tea out of it. A tea strainer helps to keep the herbs out of the part of the tea you want to drink.
I wanna bring in my own favorite for herbal tea:
What I really love to add is Stevia. It makes the tee sweet and tasty. No honey or sugar is needed than.
If you make tea out of stevia and peppermint in summer, let it cool down. Fill it up with lemons, limes and Ice cubes. Your own amazing herbal Ice tea will be the result.
Kids love it and me as well. :yum:
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Lemon balm. Grows like a weed so best to keep it in a large pot. Pick a handful of leaves, put them in a teapot, pour over boiling water, leave for five minutes.
Result - lovely refreshing lemon tea. Better than coffee at the end of a meal.
Lemon balm is a perennial so you are never without it. :) [size=78%] [/size]
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I have made nettle tee from dried nettle leaves. It is suppose to be good if you have gout. But since you are supposed to use the young leaves you can't always get it fresh. In this article I read some interesting things regarding nettles. Here is the link if you are interested (it is in German but you can easily translate it with the google translation tool): https://www.botanikmeister.de/brennessel-test/ (https://www.botanikmeister.de/brennessel-test/)