Herbal tea is sometimes called tisanes. It is infused like real tea. However, the leaves are not from the tea plants Camellia Sinensis. The dried products of this kind of drink can be seeds, leaves, flowers, herbs, roots of any plants. They are then brewed in the hot water to give nice cups of tea.
Photo courtesy of Ruta Zinas
What are popular herbal varieties?
There are many varieties of herbs to choose from. Some of the common names are:
* Chamomile tea: provides nice and calming effects
* Essaic tea: a blended herbal tea
* Yerba mate: the plants are grown in Brazil
* Rooibos : sometimes called red bush tea.
* Mint: spear mint is a common name. It has strong fragrant and quite flavorful. It is known for the cool and refreshing aftertaste.
There are many more varieties of this tea such as: Ginger root, Licorice, Citrus, Catnip, Devil claw,, European Buckthorn, Feverfew, Foti, Ginger, Gentian root, Ginseng, Goldenrod, Hemp Nettle, Lemon Balm …
What are the tea benefits?
When talk about the benefits of this kind of tea, we have to look at the benefits of the herbs that are put in the tea.
Each kind of herb, flower, seeds, and roots contain different chemicals that can benefits different organs in our body. This tea is brewed from many different kind of plants and has numerous of ways to blend. Therefore it is difficult to tell exactly what the benefits of spice tea are. The only thing we can do is to research the benefits of each plant or flower that are in the tea.
Examples of dandelion and rose hips tea
For example, dandelion leaves or seeds contain more times vitamin A than carrots. This blend of tea can help people that suffer from vitamin-A deficiency.
Another example is rose hips tea. It contains a high level of vitamin C to help strengthen the immune system. This is a good source to get this vitamin for people with vitamin-C deficiency. Rooisbos tea leaves have many chemical similarities with Camellia Sinensis tea leaves. Thus Rooibos tea also has several health benefits as real tea.
Diverse as the health benefits of these kinds of herbal tea are, there is one common thing about this diverse drink is that it helps people relaxed and refreshed.
This kind of non-tea drink is now available in the market in tea bags. Some people may have allergies toward certain chemicals in the plants that they may not know about. You should be careful to what kinds of plants, seeds, or flowers are put in the bags. If you are not sure, talk to your doctor before drinking any kind of spice tea.
The advantage and disadvantage of growing your own herbal garden
Often people enjoy things better if they themselves make them. Some people want to grow a garden of many varieties of herbs so they can make their own herbal teas. Growing your own herbs can both rewarding and tricky.
When you have your own garden of herbs, you will always have fresh herbs to make tasty herbal tea.
Herbs are often discovered in the wild and evolutionarily have to compete with other plants. Thus, the plants are often small and don’t require much space. Some types of plants can survive low-nutrient, limited sun-light and cold weather.
But if you want to get a beautiful and healthy garden of herbs, you will have to put in some effort and patient to tend for them. Good things do take time. The tricky part of growing your own herb is that you don’t know what kind of herb to choose. A few herbs can be quite toxic if not prepared carefully.
Others you may be allergic to if you inhale their spores or fragrance. Growing your own garden so you can have a constant and fresh supply of herbal tea is great if you have some knowledge of the herbs that you want to grow.
How to prepare herbal tea?
Herbs for spice teas can be leaves, flowers, seeds, or roots. Infusion of herbal teas is different from real tea.
Instead of 1 teaspoon for 5 ounces of tea, you should only use 1/2 teaspoon of herbal teas products per 5 ounces. Sometimes you can only use 1/4 if the herb has strong taste and fragrance.
If the herbs are in the forms of flowers or leaves, the tea can be infused for 10-15 minutes.
If the herbs are roots and seeds, you can let it steep longer, about 20-30 minutes. This is called decoction rather than infusion. You can add sugar, honey, or lemon juice to taste.