Home-made herbal infusions are incredibly easy to make. With just a little practice and experimentation you can come up with an array of delicious concoctions to use throughout the day, evening and into the night to suit your mood and your specific need: to give you a lift in the afternoon; help you drift off to sleep; or ease a full belly after a good meal.
We find that growing herbs, flowers and leaves in pots and window boxes is the easiest way to guarantee an easy ‘pickable’ supply, and using them fresh certainly adds to the enjoyment of drinking the resulting teas. You can, however, buy good-quality dried herbs, flowers and leaves for the purpose online and from good health food shops. Herbs and flowers have long been used for their medicinal properties. Those we have listed overleaf, however, have been chosen for their flavour and ease of use, rather than attempting to list every edible herb or teach their specific therapeutic function.
Steeping Herbs
1. Carefully wash any herbs, flowers, leaves and so on that you have gathered from the garden (use those from your own garden or sources you know to be pesticide-free).
2. Use a sparkling clean tea pot and fill it with the ingredients (be careful to remove any tannic stains clinging to the pot from your morning cuppa, which could taint delicate flavours).
3. Bruise any roots, seeds or hard pieces and scrunch the soft fresh ingredients in your hands a little to release their flavour-giving essential oils.
4. Pour over boiling water (the water must be boiling to sterilise the fresh ingredients and ensure they are safe to drink).
5. Cover with a lid to prevent any of the oils evaporating and leave to steep for two to five minutes, depending on the strength you want.
6. Remove the ingredients, or take out the strainer section if you don’t want to drink straight away, or drink it, then use the same ingredients for one or two more brews.
Our Favourite Herbal Infusions
These are some of our favourite combinations and can be grown in pots or bought dried as whole flowers, petals, leaves or roots. These quantities make a small-to medium-sized pot of tea that you can refresh with boiling water a couple of times throughout the morning, afternoon or evening.
Cleansing and refreshing:
12 large mint leaves (a combination of apple, mint and spearmint is lovely, as is peppermint if you want a really punchy flavour)
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
2 crushed green cardamom pods
Calming and relaxing:
4 fresh or 8 dried lemon verbena leaves
6 fresh or dried chamomile flowers
Uplifting and zesty:
2cm bruised lemon grass stalk
8 lemon balm leaves
2cm lightly bruised liquorice root
3 slices of root ginger
Sleep-inducing:
6 fresh or dried chamomile flowers
1 small lavender head
2cm lightly bruised liquorice root
Fruity and floral:
2 dried hibiscus flowers
12 rose petals (from a fragrant variety; traditional old roses often have the best aroma)
6 fresh or fried raspberry leaves
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