How to brew delicious herbal teas!Herbal "tea" is not actually tea, it contains NO caffeine. Nowadays we call any liquid yield from putting a bit of a plant or plants in a cup and pour in hot water "tea", but strictly speaking, this liquid is not tea because it hasn't got any tea leaves in it and should be called "herbal infusions", or, if you prefer to say it with an exotic flair, tisane. There are of course teas mixed with herbs, such as Jasmine Green Tea or Chai, if you are trying to avoid caffeine, herbal teas (or infusions) are the way to go.
*Add a good teaspoon full of herbal tea to the teapot!* There are very extensive lists of herbs, around 50,000 in use worldwide, and they all have various properties, so it is hard to go into all of them in detail. Adding cinnamon, lavender, ginger, rose petals, lime, lemon, hibiscus flowers, or honeysuckle flowers and so on to green, oolong, or black teas will dramatically change the flavour to make a completely new tea. Brewing herbal infusions is easy – generally speaking one good teaspoonful of herbs per teapot, make it with hot to just off boiling water and steep for 8 to 10 minutes. Adjust the quantity or the brewing time after trying the first cup. Use an infuser, or an infusion teapot if you don't like drinking petals and leaves.
*Let the boiling water become still before pouring it into the teapot!* Infusers are very handy, if you travel anywhere all you need to do is throw a mug, a packet of herbal tea, and an infuser in your bag, and you can make a nice herbal cuppa just about anywhere. However last time I went through security at an airport, I had to take the infuser out and show them it wasn’t anything dangerous! Although most of these herbal infusions should be drunk as they are, some herbal infusions do taste great with "extras. Adding ginger, lemon, honey, can change the flavour completely. And often you can mix and match. I often throw a good three-fingered pinch of Echinacea or Epilobium into many of the herbal teas I drink, because I know they are good for me. Most blokes need both herbs. In the case of a lady drinking say, Anxious Moments, she might like to add little grated ginger, or a lemon myrtle leaf, or even a pinch or two of Red Clover.
*Brew for around six to eight minutes, then pour and enjoy. Glass cups enhance the color of the herbal tea.*
There are herbal tea blends for all sorts of occasions, and for all sorts of symptoms. At the Herbal Teapot we blend many different herbs into many different products. Teas for anxiety, energy, jangled emotions, indigestion, insomnia, stress, weight control, women’s comfort, and many other blends are becoming very popular with our customers. Enjoy your herbal teas and infusions, they are very good for you! Cheers, Patrick
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