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Making Tea From Plants ???
I have always loved to grow lemon balm and make delicious tea from the dried leaves. I'm still drinking some from the leaves I dried in summer.
I want to make tea soon from the Wintergreen leaves of my (Gaultheria Procumbens) "Hillberry", "Winterberry", or "Teaberry" dwarf evergreen shrublet...   When the leaves are dried they have a strong scent and flavor of wintergreen, and the berries do too. I might try it. Here's how... Quote:
Looking forward... : ) |
Re: Making Tea From Plants ???
Oh yum I love this thread! Something I'm very interested in learning about! I've never advanced very far in this area. I used to pick and dry, wild chamomile way back when and mint of course but that's it.
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I'm glad you like the thread, Deb! ;)
Making tea from plant leaves is easy. Here's how I make Lemon Balm tea: First you start by growing a healthy plant...  When you've got enough to harvest, take a third of the growth and tie the bundles, hanging them to dry...  When lemon balm is dried properly, it should take on a purple-ish hue to the undersides of the leaves...  When the drying process is complete, you crumble some of the leaves into a tea ball...  Then close it up...  and let it steep...  Enjoy!!! : ) |
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I've always wanted to grow a regular tea plant, a type of camelia.
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Yes and I've always wanted to grow green tea so I can make it myself. I can only imagine how delicious it would be. :)
I've grown and made my own chamomile and mint tea also. Wonder what other plants can be turned into tea and if anyone else does this too, or is interested ??? I'll let you guys know how the "Hillberry" plant tastes when I make some tea from the leaves...unless I chicken out. The oil apparently can be toxic but tea made from the leaves is supposed to be ok. :eek: If you suddenly don't hear back from me, you'll know why! :ha: : ) |
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I have made fresh dandelion tea. Super easy, just pull up a dandelion and rinse off, pick about three or four leaves place in your cup and pour boiling water over it. The tea color is very light and the flavor is light. I remove the leaves sweeten with honey and enjoy. You can sip it hot or cold.
Great new thread Sherry! Here's a little herbal tidbit about dandelion: Some herbs like dandelion enhance the livers ability to break down waste products and toxins. It also aids the kidneys to filter blood of these waste products and toxins. Dandelion leaves can be added to salads or cooked like spinach. A cup of dandelion tea each day containing 50 Gms of fresh dandelion leaves to half a liter of water. ~JaNan |
Re: Making Tea From Plants ???
I love making my own teas. Chamomile in my garden is doing well it has reseeded from last year. Here is some other great herbs to grow for tea; lemon verbena, ginger, citrus (use the flowers and rind for teas), roses (hips and petals), Raspberry (leaves), Stevia, Anise Hyssop, Pineapple Sage, Georgia basil (Calamintha georgiana), Bergamot/Oswego Tea (Monarda didyma), Moujean Tea (Nashia inaguensis), and hibiscus.
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Re: Making Tea From Plants ???
Yeah I love chamomile tea!
Is "Stevia" the herb that's used as a sugar replacement? If so, I have seeds for it. I bet that would produce one sweet tea! :eek: Thanks for the list. ;) JaNan that sounds totally cool and I might try it sometime. I know people that collect dandelion greens for salads and swear they're delicious so I'm not surprised about the tea. Thanks for telling us about it. Glad you like the thread as well. Wow, there's a lot of plants you can make tea from. :) : ) |
Re: Making Tea From Plants ???
Tea plants (Camellia sinensis) grow easily and beautifully anywhere you can grow rhododendrons. From this plant you can make black, white, and green teas.
For herbal teas, my favorite is Balm of Gilead (Cedronella canariensis). |
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I think you once told me I should grow that, Richard. Very interesting.
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My favorite
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Re: Making Tea From Plants ???
I'll tell you this...the seeds take a long time to sprout! :ha: For Stevia, that is.
It's quite a wonderful herb though, and that's why I ordered the seeds awhile back. I didn't know people made tea from it. Wouldn't it be phenominally sweet though? :eek: I also like Chai, Orange Pekoe, Peppermint, & Earl Grey tea as well as many other kinds too. I would like to grow more tea bearing plants. My lemon balm tea is so delicious you wouldn't believe. What do you think about making tea from Galutheria Procumbens leaves, Richard? Bob's got me worried I'll be poisoned! :ha: : ) |
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Re: Making Tea From Plants ???
Good link Richard. :)
Well then damn it...I'm going to make some tea and give it a try! Like I said previously, if you don't hear from me, you'll know why... : ) |
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On 2nd thought, I'm thinking of waiting to make the tea from my "Teaberry" plant until next Fall, when the plant has had a chance to grow all season. ;)
It's slow growing and it wouldn't be a good idea to steal too many of the leaves just yet when it's still young. Plus I plan on sharing the plant with a couple people in the Spring so I'll have to divide it then. It's actually many plants in one pot. Maybe I'll think of an herb in the meantime that I could grow to make some tea from... What about Echinacea...isn't that good for colds and their symptoms? I'd love to make fresh tea from my perennial Echinacea plants. :D : ) |
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Re: Making Tea From Plants ???
Just stay away from Comfry.
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Why is that, Richard?
Deb, I'm so glad you are inspired by this thread! :D Here's a link about making tea from Echinacea... Echinacea Tea Benefits : ) |
Re: Making Tea From Plants ???
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This article is from the ITM site, which in general contains a lot of helpful information. For example, check out this article to see if Echinacea and other herbs are right for you: Checking for Possible Herb-Drug Interactions |
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Here's a cup of dandelion tea I enjoyed yesterday!
I picked a handful of leaves  Chose the youngest most tender leaves  Rinsed and put into the cup  Poured boiling water into the cup  Added honey for sweetener which made the tea darker  Voila! I took the leaves out and ate them and sipped on my cup of tea. Hint: Only use the plant that has not flowered for tea - once they flower the leaves become more bitter. You can add the fresh leaves to a salad or sauté them in a little butter. Tasty and healthy! ~JaNan |
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Very cool, JaNan!!! :08:
I know people that eat dandelion greens in their salads too. ;) : ) |
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Is anyone else brewing with Moujean Tea (Nashia inaguensis) ?
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When I dry my lemon balm properly, it has a distinct purple color to back of the leaves.
I think chocolate mint will dry with a chololate color on the back of the leaves that will get more pronounced as it dries. Here's a shoot I snipped off to dry for tea, so I could see what it's like. You can already see the chocolate hue to the back of the leaves...  Looking so forward to trying some chocolate mint tea... : ) |
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Don't make datura or brugmansia tea either!
Clover makes good tea, the red clover blossoms dried and steeped. Very cheap if you live next to a hay field! I also use Chamomile and feverfew blooms, with some lemon balm steeped together, with clover or with clover and regular tea. Very nice mix. |
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I'm going to try making banana-mint tea this winter using dried leaves from my own plant.
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Sounds tasty, I can't wait to get enough leaves from a wild mint I collected this summer. Growing a large number of tea herb plants now, including green tea.
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I'm really looking forward to it because the leaves have an actual authentic banana flavor to them! I bet the tea will be YUMMY!
Do you dry your tea leaves first? If you do, the flavor will be more intense. : ) |
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