Making tea from bulk herbs is easier than you think. Above all, it tastes much better!
HERBS
I would highly recommend you buy dried BULK herbs at a
health food store with a bulk section, especially ORGANIC ones (unless you have
fresh herbs in your garden). First, you know what you are getting because I’m not really
sure about the quality of herbs in tea bags. You must have experienced that tea made from loose leaf
tastes and smells much better than one from a tea bag. I tried green tea bags from different
brands, but it doesn’t taste anything like real
green tea, so I am always wondering if manufactures use low grade tea leaves or
herbs for tea bags.
Buying herbs in bulk also gives you many advantages. You can find more varieties of herbs,
and buy only the amount you want.
You can also pick the specific herbs most beneficial for your condition
and blend them exactly the way you like.
Lastly, it definitely saves you a lot.
EQUIPMENT
You can find all kinds of tea pots and cups with an infuser
in stores. If you don’t have any
of these, you can use a mug and strain the herbs with a strainer later. I use a French coffee press for making
more than one cup, but I usually use one very similar to this in the picture
below from Zen Formosa (I don’t remember the brand of mine, since it’s been
years since I bought it). It’s
even easier than making a cup of coffee.
INSTRUCTIONS
Amount
In the book “20,000 Secrets of Tea – The Most Effective Ways to Benefit from Nature’sHealing Herbs” by Victoria Zak, a heaping tablespoon of bulk herbs is
required, but I feel it’s too much. I normally use about ½ to 1 teaspoon, and
it still comes out pretty strong depending on the herbs. You might want to start with ½ teaspoon
to get used to the taste.
If you use fresh herbs (softer and hard parts of a plant), cut
the herbs into small pieces and use 2 tablespoons per cup.
Steeping time
Pour boiled water to a pot or a cup, and cover. Steep for 3-5 minutes for dried herbs,
7-10 minutes for softer parts of fresh herbs. For hard parts of fresh herbs such as bark, twigs, seeds,
roots, or rhizomes, put pieces of the herb in a pot, cover it with cold water,
and bring the water to a boil.
Simmer for 1 hour.
Sugar/Sweeteners
The author of the book doesn’t encourage you to sweeten tea
if you take herbal teas as healing remedies. I agree. I enjoy
the earthy, bitter flavor of herbs, which tastes almost like medicine. It’s psychological, but I feel like it
works better that way.
Enjoy a blissful cup of tea!