How to make your own herbal tea | SA Garden and Home

Put your extra herbs to good use by drying them and making your own herbal tea. You’ll have a good, fresh cup straight out the garden, and the health benefits of these magical plants too.

How to make herbal tea

Steps

1. Snip your herbs straight from the garden, ensuring you do not remove more than one third of the entire plant. After rinsing thoroughly, dry your herbs one of four ways:

1. Bunch them together, tie with string, and hang in a warm, dry place for a few weeks, away from direct sunlight
2. Place them on a microwaveable plate and microwave on high for 3 minutes, stopping to turn the leaves at 30 second intervals. Never leave them in for the full three minutes without stopping as the leaves can burn or start a fire.
3. Dry herbs in the oven by spreading onto an oven tray and drying on the lowest possible heat for 3-4 hours
4. Dry in a standard food dehydrator until crisp.

2. Make your preferred tea mixes by combining compatible flavours into a single bowl. Avoid crushing them to preserve the strong flavour. Try spearmint and lavender for a calming, stress relieving tea, or ginger and lemon balm for a digestive kick.

3. Place your mixes into individual bags or airtight containers to preserve them. The mixes should last between six and twelve months.

4. When you’re ready to test your homemade herbal tea, simply add boiling water and strain or place a few teaspoons of leaves into a tea strainer. Don’t use too much at one time – the flavours of freshly dried herbs are far more potent than those from the grocery store.