Four Herbal Teas, Two Herbs

 

Trying to come up with more herbal tea ideas? Here are a few more ways I use lemon balm and lavender in my beverages. Both herbs produce a relaxing effect that helps me sleep at night and also helps me keep an edge off my stress levels after a crazy work day... 

1) Lemon Balm Tea with Milk

*steep lemon balm leaves in hot milk for five minutes, strain out leaves, and add 1 tsp maple syrup. This makes a delicious, relaxing bedtime drink

*1-3 tsp. dried leaves or 1-3 tbsp. fresh leaves per cup of milk. 

2) Lemon Balm with your favorite loose leaf tea

*Lemon balm leaves can be combined with Earl Grey, green or black tea. Fresh leaves are best for tea.

  

3) Lavender with your favorite loose leaf tea
*1 teaspoon dried lavender flowers (English lavender)
*1 tablespoon English Breakfast tea
*a dash of fresh lemon
*sugar or honey to taste

*To prepare, pour two cups of boiling water over the tea leaves and lavender and allow to steep for five to ten minutes. Add lemon, strain, add sugar or honey to taste.

4) Lavender & Black Tea Infused Milk
*1 tsp. dried lavender blossoms
*1 Tbsp. black tea (darjeeling, english breakfast, earl grey)
*1.5 cups whole milk

*Put all of the above in a small saucepan and starting at medium heat, bring slowly to warmth, removing from heat before boiling/simmering. You will see a softening, frothiness around the edge of the milk, and a gentle steam will be rising from the milk. Add honey if desired!

Medicinal Uses of Lemon Balm

Lemon balm is medicinally amazing for tension, restlessness, anxiety, headaches, and depression. Lemon balm helps promote a calming and relaxing feeling, so it is also good to take in addition to other herbs for insomnia. If taken as a herbal tea infusion for a long period of time, there should be wonderful results for uplifting the spirits.

Herbal tea infusion with Lemon balm:
*Infuse 2-3 teaspoons of the fresh lemon balm leaves (lemon balm does not dry well, it is best used fresh. If it is dried, use a similar dosage as the fresh) per 1 cup of boiling water. Steep for 15-20 minutes and strain. Drink 1 cup of the herbal tea 2-3 times per day.

This herb has a mild sedative action, so if you are someone who often suffers from fatigue, it is best to take this only in the evening.

For additional information, see: references and warnings

Sweet Herb Sorbet

I haven't tried this yet, but it sounds delicious, plus, the possibilities of additional herbs and tastes mean fun experiments!

Sweet Herb Sorbet
*1/2 cup superfine sugar
*1 cup water
*1/4 cup leaves of either spearmint, apple mint, lemon balm, or rosemary
*juice of 1 lemon
*1 egg white
*extra leaves of chosen herb for decoration

Directions:
1) Place sugar in a saucepan and add the water. Bring to a boil, stirring, until the sugar is dissolved.
2) Chop the herb leaves and add to the pan. Cover, then remove from the heat. Leave to infuse for 20-30 minutes. Test for flavor; if it is too light, bring to the boil again then leave to infuse for 15 minutes.
3) Strain the liquid and add the lemon juice. Transfer the mixture to an ice-cube tray and freeze for 2-3 hours.
4) When the sorbet is semifrozen, whisk the egg white until stiff and fold it into the mixture. Return to the freezer for a further 3-4 hours or until frozen.
5) Serve the sorbet in individual dishes, and decorate with extra herb leaves. Enjoy!

Recipe located in: Lesley Bremness, The Complete Book of Herbs, pg. 185

For additional information, see: references and warnings

Medicinal Recipe: Suggestions for the flu

Some of the best herbs for flu care are diaphoretics, because they stimulate sweating.
Diaphoretics support the body’s natural response rather than “fighting” the illness.
Some of the best diaphoretic herbs include: lemon balm, bee balm, yarrow, elder flowers & berries and ginger.

If you make an infused tea with any of these herbs (or all of them, or some combination), you should see great benefits in seeing comfort from your flu. An infused tea is simply using 1-3 tbsp. of fresh herbs or 1-3 tsp. of dried herbs per cup of boiling water. Pour the boiling water over the herbs and let it steep for anywhere between 10-30 minutes. The longer you let it steep, the stronger it will be medicinally. Strain and add honey, lemon, or stevia to taste.

Here is one such infused tea:
Elderberry and ginger make a delicious tea that you might want to drink all winter, whether you’re sick or not...

To make pink ginger tea:
Slice up 2-3 inches of fresh ginger.
Put the ginger in a pot and cover it with about a quart of water.
Add 2-3 tablespoons of elderberry (frozen, canned, juice, syrup or dried).
Simmer the mixture until it tastes strongly of ginger—usually at least 15 minutes. (The tea turns a muddy purple-brown as it simmers.)
When it’s ready, remove the tea from the heat, let it sit a minute to cool, and add good quality raw honey to taste. (Don’t boil raw honey. You’ll kill the enzymes.)
Squeeze the juice from one small or half a large lemon. Add it to the tea. Watch the color change from muddy to clear pink. :)

Drink hot, preferably while wrapped in a blanket.

Headache Herbal Teas

Headaches are a huge problem for me. I have almost daily headaches and they often alter my lifestyle and my daily living in a negative way. I went to a doctor about my constant headaches. Some X-rays, MRI's, blood tests, etc., later, they discovered no serious reasons why I get headaches and simply put me on some pills. These pills had terrible side-effects such as mood swings, irritability, fatigue, etc. I am trying to get myself off of the pills and instead, I am going to try most of these Headache Herbal Teas to find the right recipe to help me have a Life again. These herbal teas don't have side effects and they are way healthier for me than mystery pills filled with who-knows-what.

Ramblings aside, here are a few Headache Herbal Tea recipes:


Headache Tea #1
*3 parts chamomile
*3 parts lemon balm
*1 part passion flower
*1 part skullcap

Slowly boil water, pour over the herbs and let it steep for 20-ish minutes. Strain and drink 1/2 cup every hour until the symptoms subside. 1-3 tbsp. fresh herbs OR 1-3 tsp. dried herbs per cup of water.


Headache Tea #2
*2 parts lemon balm
*2 parts skullcap
*1 part chamomile
*1 part feverfew

Slowly boil water, pour over the herbs and let it steep for 20-ish minutes. Strain and drink 1/4 cup every 30 minutes until the symptoms subside.  1-3 tbsp. fresh herbs OR 1-3 tsp. dried herbs per cup of water.


Headache Tea #3
*2 parts lemon balm
*1 part feverfew
*1 part lavender

Slowly boil water, pour over the herbs and let it steep for 20-ish minutes. Strain and drink 1/4 cup every 30 minutes until the symptoms subside.  1-3 tbsp. fresh herbs OR 1-3 tsp. dried herbs per cup of water. This one is particularly good if you also have a hot bath with a few drops of lavender essential oil added to it.


Migraine/Headache Tea #4
*1 part feverfew
*1 part lavender

This tea is good for those really bad headaches AKA migraines.  Slowly boil water, pour over the herbs and let it steep for 20-ish minutes. Strain and drink 1/4 cup every 30 minutes until the symptoms subside.  1-3 tbsp. fresh herbs OR 1-3 tsp. dried herbs per cup of water.


For additional information, see: references and warnings

Great Summer Drinks...or how to pretend it's still summer :)

Here are a few delicious options for some fun drinks to make with all those herbs you have been dying to use:

*Summer Punch*

(1)1/2 gallon lemonade or limeade 

(2)1 large can pineapple juice 

(3) About 3 large handfuls of pineapple sage, lemon balm, lemon verbena, or mint leaves 

(4) 2 bottles of champagne or ginger ale 

(5) 2 lemons, sliced thin 

(6) 1 lime, sliced thin 

(7) Pineapple chunks, optional 

(8) Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours, use chilled beverages 

(9) When ready to serve, squeeze out the herbs and remove them. Pour in ginger ale or champagne just before serving.

*Iced Lemon Balm Tea*

(1) 8 cups of water 

(2) 15 orange pekoe tea bags 

(3) 3 (5 inch long) sprigs fresh lemon balm 

(4) 1 cup sugar 

(5) Juice of 1 lemon 

(6) Ice 

(7) In a large saucepan, bring water to a boil. Remove from heat and add tea bags and lemon balm. Cover and set aside for 5 minutes. Remove tea bags and lemon balm and discard. Stir in sugar until dissolved. Add lemon juice. Chill for at least 1 hour. To serve, pour lemon tea over a tall glass of ice.

*Sweet Harvest Tea*

(1) ¼ cup loosely packed fresh lemon balm 

(2) ¼ loosely packed fresh peppermint leaves 

(3) 1 tsp. fresh or dried lavender blossoms 

(4) 3 inch slice of orange peel 

(5) 2 cups water 

(6) Place herbs and orange peel in a large teapot. In a small saucepan, heat water to almost boiling and pour over herbs in teapot. Cover teapot and let mixture steep for 10 minutes. Pour through a strainer to serve.