Using Native Plants For Teas
Excerpted from: Using Wild Plants For Teas
In an effort to use all the resources at your disposal, learning how to use the native plants that
are growing in your garden or in the forests or fields is a great idea. Many native plants around
your home are more than just additional greenery. Additionally, many native plants are not only
edible but make excellent teas.
These teas are tasty and also nutritious or medicinal. People have been using wild plants for
teas and tonics for thousands of years, but much of the knowledge escapes most of us. It’s
time to take to the yard and look for some of these delightful herbals for your next cup of tea.
A lot of us grew up thinking of tea as something that came in a bag. As foraging has regained
popularity, more people are brewing their own herbal infusions from tea ingredients they harvest
themselves.
The first lesson is to be very, very sure that you can correctly identify the plant you are about
to harvest. Not all your wild greenery is friendly, so to avoid mistaking a nice herb for something
poisonous, consider investing in a good plant identification book. A good one should cover
your Wisconsin, have detailed descriptions and images, and mention any plants that are
commonly mis-identified.
In general, when you are harvesting and using wild plants for teas, you want the leaves of the
plant. Simply pluck off the leaves as you need them or use sharp kitchen shears. The best time
to harvest is in the morning after the dew has dried. It is also ideal to harvest just before flowers
form, but it is not necessary.
If you can see the leaves and they are in good shape, go ahead and take them. Because the
leaves are the source of flavor and fragrance, be careful not to bruise, crush, or tear them while
harvesting. You want them intact for later.
Use Now: To use your wild herbal leaves for tea, you can either dry them or use them fresh. If you are
harvesting a lot of leaves and want to save some for later, you can dry or freeze them for
storage. Typical measurements for making tea from fresh leaves and dry leaves are three
teaspoons and one teaspoon, respectively, per cup of water.
Use Later: If you will be drying your herbs for storage, harvest complete branches with
the leaves intact. Dry them by hanging the branches upside down in a cool, dry place that is free
from disturbances, dust, and debris. When they are dry, remove the leaves from the branches,
crumble them by hand, and store them in glass containers. Another way to preserve your herbs
is to freeze them. Pick the leaves from the branches of the plant and put them whole into re-sealable
freezer bags.
☆ Raspberry, Blackberry, and Strawberry
The leaves of these wild berries make a very pleasant tea. As you await the pleasure of biting into
the fresh, wild fruits, harvest a few leaves to make nice teas. Strawberry tea, in particular, is
astringent, aids in digestion, and makes a good fix for diarrhea, especially for children. Raspberry
and blackberry leaves also make an astringent tea with a stronger flavor than strawberry leaves.
The tea made from these leaves is chock full of vitamins and minerals.
☆ Dandelion
Dandelion wine is not the only beverage you can get from this lovely “weed.” Dandelions are
edible to their core. You can eat the leaves and flowers, make “coffee” from the roots, and make
tea from the leaves. An infusion of dandelion leaves provides you with a good dose of nutrients
and also soothes your stomach. Dandelion greens have a tendency to be bitter, so go for the
smallest, youngest leaves, and if the tea tastes bitter to you, add a dollop of honey to sweeten it.
See Dandelion Recipes for more ideas about how to
use Dandelions
☆ Mint
Peppermint grows wild and profusely. A sure way to know you have a patch of peppermint is to
break a leaf and take a sniff. You cannot mistake that peppermint smell. The plant also produces
an abundance of small, purple flowers. Peppermint tea is soothing and delicious. It is very
refreshing as an iced tea in the summer and warming as a hot tea in winter. The smell alone
should make you feel relaxed, and drinking the tea will make your upset stomach feel much
better. Wintergreen is a different minty plant. It is a shrubbery that produces small, red berries.
Wintergreen is slightly toxic, but in spite of that, you can make a tasty tea from it that reduces
pain. It contains an aspirin-like substance, so anyone allergic to aspirin should avoid wintergreen
altogether
☆ Pine Needles
The needles of several pine trees can be made into a tea with a very unique taste. Some might
call it an acquired taste, but the nutritional value of pine tea cannot be denied. Pine needles
have very high quantities of vitamin C, and the tea provides a big jolt of this essential compound.
Use fresh, green needles, wash and chop them, and cover about one tablespoon with a cup of
boiling water. Let the needles steep for five to ten minutes. You can experiment with different
types of pine needles (try Eastern White Pine or Balsam) and mixtures of them for different flavors.
Do not use yew, Norfolk Island pine, or Ponderosa pine. These plants are poisonous! Also,
pregnant women should not drink pine needle tea.
☆ Wild Rose
Wild roses are lovely, but they also make a great tea. The leaves, though, are not the source of
tea from wild roses. You want to use the rose hips, or the fruit that comes after the flowers die.
The rose hips are high in vitamin C and other nutrients and when made into a tea, provide a tangy,
delicious, hot beverage. Pick the hips and crush them slightly before steeping in hot water.
☆ Bee Balm
Often called bergamot, these bee-pleasing additions to your garden emit a lovely scent similar to
the (unrelated) bergamot fruit, used to flavor Earl Grey tea. When American colonists boycotted
British tea, they turned to Oswego tea, the beverage brewed by the Oswego Nation from bee
balm (monarda didyma). Be forewarned that different varieties have very different flavors. I was
disappointed when I brewed my first pot of bergamot harvested from my garden. Its oregano
flavor did not make for a lovely tea at all! Stick with monarda didyma if you’re planning to brew
tea from bee balm. If you’re not sure what you’ve got, a little taste of the leaf should tell you all
you need to know. Use the oregano-flavored leaves for cooking instead. Bee balm’s medicinal
uses include relaxation, pain relief, and digestive support.
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How to prepare Raspberry leaf tea
Trim some of the newer leaf growth from our raspberry plants as they emerge, being sure
not to over-harvest the leaves in such a way as to inhibit fruit growth. Also, since cane berries
tend to be very vigorous and spread via underground runners, save the leaves from any
canes trimmed out of beds.
If you don’t use them immediately, dry the leaves indoors on drying racks. This easily
provides a few large zip lock bags full of dried raspberry leaves to enjoy as tea throughout
the fall and winter when the fresh leaves are unavailable.
How to prepare Dandelion leaf tea
When you’ve picked your dandelions and separated the leaves from the rest of the dandelion,
wash and dry them.
At the same time, begin boiling your water in the saucepan. You need only enough water to fill
your teacup.
You’ll need approximately six leaves per cup of dandelion tea you’re preparing. When the
leaves are dry, chop them finely.
Place the dandelion leaves in the teacup and cover with boiling water. Allow the leaves to
steep for ten minutes.
When the leaves have finished steeping, you can either leave them in your tea or strain them
out. Add your desired sweetener, and you’re ready to enjoy dandelion tea.
How to prepare Mint leaf tea
• 2 cups water (filtered)
• 15 mint leaves (fresh, peppermint or spearmint)
• Optional: 1 to 2 teaspoons sugar (or honey)
• Optional: lemon slices
• Optional: fresh lemon juice
• Optional: ice
Bring the water to a boil.
Remove from the heat and add the fresh mint leaves.
Steep for 3 to 5 minutes, depending on desired strength.
Add optional sweetener as desired. Start with 1 teaspoon per cup and add more as desired.
If serving iced, fill tall glasses with ice and pour the tea over. If serving hot, pour the tea
into mugs. Garnish with optional lemon slices and/or lemon juice to taste.
How to prepare wild Rose Hips tea
Rose hips are best used fresh to make full use of the many vitamins naturally present
in the fruit. You can also store rose hips for long term storage, by drying them, and
then keeping them in a dry, dark, and cool location.
Once you have picked the rose hips, wash them, and either let them air dry or you can
pat dry with a clean kitchen towel.
rim off the tops and bottoms if you plan on drying the rose hips for later use, and
lay them out in the sun to dry. They will shrivel up and darken in color as they dry.
Once hard and fully dried, store the rose hips in glass jars as you would tea.
Boil a pot of water and pour the hot water over the rose hips. If using fresh rose hips,
use 1/4 cup of hips to 1 cup of water. If using dried rose hips, crush them up and use
1 heaping tablespoon per cup of water.
Let the tea steep for 15 minutes covered, and then strain out the pulp. You may want
to strain the rose hips through a clean coffee filter worked the best to remove any
of the small hairs present in the hips.
How to prepare Pine Needle tea
Put the water into a pot and bring it to a boil.
Gather the pine needles, clean them, and then put them in the cup or mug.
Pour the boiling water into the cup while the pine needles are in it and stir until the
color of the pine needles starts to pale.
For more flavor, add the juice of 1 lemon or a squirt of lemon juice. Also try a squirt
of honey or stir in a sugar cube.
Add optional sweetener as desired. Start with 1 teaspoon per cup and add more as desired.
Filter the pine needles out with a fork and drink up!
How to prepare Bee Balm leaf tea
Bee balm is very prone to powdery mildew, which creates white powdery spots
or a white powdery coating on the leaves. Make sure you only harvest healthy
leaves that show no sign of disease to make your bee balm tea. Discard any
leaves that have blemishes or that show signs of powdery mildew.
Bee balm tea can be made from freshly picked leaves, or you can dry the leaves
for later use. Leaves can be dried in a dehydrator or laid out on a cooling rack
to dry. Use a tea infuser if you make bee balm tea using the dried leaves. You
don’t need a tea infuser for freshly harvested leaves, you can toss those into
the tea cup whole.
Start with three or four fresh bee balm leaves per cup or fill your infuser with
about the same amount of dried bee balm leaves. Put the leaves or the tea infuser
into a tea cup and pour boiling water over the top
Allow the bee balm tea to steep for 5-10 minutes. If the tea is too strong, you can
add more water and use fewer leaves next time. If the tea is too weak, add a few
more leaves and allow the tea to steep longer.
Use a fork or slotted spoon to remove the leaves from my tea before drinking
it, but you could use a strainer if you prefer.
For a sweeter tea, try adding a little honey to your bee balm tea.