Creating Your Own Herbal Tea Blends: A Beginner’s Guide

Creating your own herbal tea blends is a delightful way to personalize your tea-drinking experience and harness the power of herbs. Start by thinking what kind of tea blend you want and how do you want it to make you feel. Drinking tea is not just about drinking a warm or cold pleasant beverage, but it’s about how do you want it to look, smell, taste, and the why are you drinking it today. What are you asking the flower, seeds, or plants to do for you today? Are you asking them to help you settle an upset stomach, sooth a dry raw throat, or provide you with an immune boosting beverage. Are you looking to relax, or speed up, calm down, or fall into a comfortable sleep. Is that cup tea accompanying you while you read your book, sit in the park, or just stare into a fire. How can it help….it’s what the plants ask us everyday. Start by identifying what you want from that cup of tea. Is it just a comfortable friend while you sit in the window and watch the weather outside. What you want from your tea will help you decide what type of plants should be part of your tea. Who (plants) are you asking to join you in a cup of tea. While we are talking about plants let talk about where you how you select your product for your tea. If you are buying loose leave tea make sure its from a reputable seller. There are many local tea houses that can tell you where they source their tea from and how long its been on their shelfs. You do not want old product. The older the tea the less effective it will be. The best herbs for your tea are out of your own garden. You know how you grew them, and chances are they are either fresh or you just dried them recently. Time of year, time of day, and what type of person can all dictate what type of plant you select for you or a friend’s cup of tea. Without going deep into a full lesson that would take weeks to teach, lets just say you want a cup of tea to enjoy while reading a good book. Something that taste pleasant and is enjoyable. You want to select herbs that give you the desired actions to help you relax and unwind. Herbs like lemon balm, holy basil, or oat straw. These herbs provide the foundation for your blend and offer distinct flavors and benefits. Lemon balm will give your blend a light lemony flavor and its a nervine, it will help you relax. Holy Basil is from India but you can grow it long side of your culinary basils.  It has smaller leaves and are very aromatic. One of the key actions of Holy Basil to help lower blood sugar and its consider an apoptogenic. Oat straw is a great base to use in a relaxing tea as it supports the over stressed nervous system. A suggested tea blend”

1. 1 tbs   Oat Straw
2. 1 tsp   Lemon Balm
3. 1tsp    Holy Basil

Add loose tea parts to a French press or a lose tea basket let it steep at least 10 to 15 mins. Pour and enjoy. Once you’ve created your blend, store it in an airtight container in a cool, dark place. When brewing your tea, use about two teaspoons of herbal blend per cup of hot water. Steep for 10-15  minutes, then strain and enjoy. With a little creativity and experimentation, you can create a variety of delicious and beneficial herbal tea blends to suit your taste and needs.