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Types of Herbs to Use for Tea

With the cold weather rolling in, tea is almost a necessity. For us growers, herbs are essential to support our winter “tea addiction.” The beauty of herbs is their eclectic nature-no two herbs are exactly the same, in fact, most are completely contradictory in order to create a unique flavor and blend! The long list of herbs for tea usage is a giant herbal enigma, so to speak. If you want to grow some herbs for tea, it may be overwhelming to decide what to grow based on their flavor profile and their ability to grow and thrive in your area. I’m excited to start the next growing season with a plan to plant an herbal garden specifically for teas, and I hope this article inspires you to take the step from drinking store-bought tea to drinking YOUR OWN fresh tea made from YOUR OWN cultivated herbs!

To make things simple, I have constructed a list of the top 10 most popular herbs used for tea specified to what can be grown based on the growing zones…

1) Bee Balm

-Related to mint, bee balm is native to Eastern US and Canada. It carries brightly colored flowers and is a strong plant in the sense that it can withstand great temperature differences as long as it is cared for.

-To keep your bee balm happy, provide it with a good amount of sun with some relief by shade (too keep flowers from drying out) and make sure the soil has adequate water drainage.

-When it comes time to harvest your bee balm in the summer, pick the flowers for drying just before they open!

-Flavor Profile: Citrusy and Spicy

2) Chamomile

-This perennial is one of my favorite herbs because it not only tastes fantastic, but it can used medicinally as well!

-There are two main types of chamomile: German vs. Roman. German chamomile is annual, forms a bushy shrub at about 3ft tall, and is more popular for blossom usage. Roman chamomile is a perennial at about 1ft tall and it is not as popular.

-Chamomile has no specific harvest time; in fact, you just take as much as you need when you need it (not too much though, you don’t want to kill the plant).

-To care for your chamomile, allow it full sun with light shade and water it occasionally. The flowers will be white with yellow centers.

-When it comes time to harvest your chamomile, you want to use ONLY the blossoms NOT the stems so pick carefully! You can actually use the blossoms fresh or dry, but if you want to dry them, just dry in a warm, well-ventilated, indoor area (away from direct light which destroys the oils in the blossoms). A nice way to do this is to take a bundle of chamomile with their stems and tie them together in a bunch at about 5 inches up the stems, and hang the bundle upside down in the area which follows the above guidelines. Once dry, just take off the buds and store somewhere they will not get moist (and moldy). *I’ll discuss storage later in the article.

-Flavor Profile: Subtle and Soothing

3) Lemon Balm

-Lemon Balm is an interesting, light-green, tooth-leaved perennial which is also a member of the mint family.

-Best grown in Zones 5-9.

-This hardy plant grows wild in many parts of the world and is a strong bee attractant. Interestingly, lemon balm actually is a great mosquito repellent and natural herbicide/pesticide!

-To add to its long list of uses, lemon balm actually has a lot of medicinal uses in the sense that it reduces anxiety, reduces sleep problems, and is a sedative which has earned it the nick-name of “herbal valium.”

-Flavor Profile: It tastes like it sounds… lemony.

4) Lemon Verbena

-Keeping with the lemony flavor profile, lemon verbena has a STRONG lemon flavor with a picky attitude when it comes to habitation!

-This herb does NOT like the cold in fact it is hardy ONLY in zones 10 and 11. (Keep in mind that the zones are a little more flexible when it comes to growing in a growing structure such as a greenhouse with temperature control of some type.)

-This is the “princess” of herbs and needs pampering! Make sure it receives full sun, regular watering, and rich/well-drained soil.

-A nice characteristic of this herb is that it grows straight from seed, no germination required!

-The flowers on lemon verbena are pale, small, and carry a lemony smell.

-For tea, you can actually use almost all parts of this plant… you can use the leaves, tender stems, and flowers after drying, BUT you CANNOT use the woody stems this plant grows.

5) Mint

-Let me start off by saying I LOVE MINT! This herbaceous plant offers a comforting, pungent scent that is irreplaceable by any other herb when it comes to tea!

-This perennial is invasive, but let me tell you, I think many others would agree with me in that if there is to be an invasion of any sort, I would be happy for it to be a mint invasion!

-Best grown in zones 3-8.

-Mint is extremely versatile in that that there are too many types of mint to count on two hands (variety added, thanks to hybrids). Some examples include peppermint, spearmint, furry apple mint, chocolate mint (my personal favorite), Corsican mint, etc. From experience, I know that no two of these mints taste the same which adds to the excitement of mint!

-This herb enjoys a cool, moist, shaded area, BUT it will grow in full sun. As an added note, I want to say that as an experienced mint cultivator, this herb is extremely resistant in that we have accidentally “mowed over” it with the lawn mower multiple times yet it comes back stronger than ever!

-As eclectic as mint is in its varieties and flavors, its uses are as well. Mint can be used for tea: iced or hot, medicinal: to calm upset stomach, cosmetic: balms and it is frequently used for a scent in anything from shampoo to markers!

-To harvest, use leaves or sprigs as needed, hang in loose bunches to air dry, dry in a food dehydrator (individual sprigs), or freeze in bags (zip locks).

6) Lavender

-Lavender is perhaps the most confusing herb known to man! Why… because there are a million different types of lavender, with a billion different uses! I will say though that there is a lavender plant out there for everyone. I have narrowed down the list to a handful of lavender plants that cover a range of zones and uses.

-Lavender in general blends well with other herbs. It enjoys well-drained soil, likes direct sunlight, and is a popular scent. This herb has MANY medicinal uses: depression, sleep disorders, headaches, fatigue, tension, upset stomach, AND it has been used to clean and heal wounds.

-List of lavender:

1. English Lavender

-strong fragrance

-zones 5-11

-cool, dry conditions

-cosmetics and perfumes

2. French Lavender

-not as strong

-zones 8-11

-decoration

3. Spanish Lavender

-purple flowers in spring

-zones 8-11

-strong piney fragrance

4. Yellow Lavender

-strong

-yellow flowers

-zones 8-11

-yellow/green leaves

5. Spike Lavender

-3 times oilier than regular lavender

-soaps, deodorants, disinfectants

6. Lavandin

-Common Lavender/Spike Lavender cross (hybrid)

7. Godwin Creek Gray

-purple flowers

-zone 7

-used for flower borders in a garden

8. Munstead

-purple flowers

-zone 4 with protection

9. Hidcote

-cooler weather

-pink version available

10. Kew Red

-Pink/Cerise colored flowers

-green/gray foliage

-zones 7-9

11. Grosso

-Lavandin hybrid

-violet flowers

-strong

-Harvest lavender flowers for drying when 1/3 fully open.

-Purple flowers dry the nicest (regarding appearance) compared to the pink or white flowers.

To dry the herbs, hang them in a cool, airy, shaded room. Take the dried buds and flowers and use them for sachets and pot pourris or use them for cooking and teas. Use ONLY the flowers and buds for cooking and teas, NOT the leaves which are too strongly flavored for consumption.

Of course, their are some odd-ball herbs used for tea such as:

1. Coriander

-seeds of cilatron plant

-warm, citrusy flavor

-prefer cold weather

2. Fennel

-licorice-flavored

-annual

-full sun (tolerate a range of temperatures)

3. Roses

-crushed and dried rose hips (fruit)

-petals off of any fragrant variety that has been grown organically

-Rosa Rugosa is the best variety being both fragrant and pest-free.

-Red, lemon-orange flavor.

-High in Vitamin C.

4. Sunflower Seeds

-You can roast and ground for coffee substitute (used by Native Americans).

5. Sage

I hope you’re excited as I am about these herbs for tea! The thought of opening up my cupboard to see shelves full of dried herbs in mason jars thrills me; it’s like going back in time to an apothecary’s home with shelves full of colorful dried herbs. Speaking of mason jars, it looks really nice if you take the flowers and buds (specifically) of the herbaceous plants and stash them in mason jars. You can do the same with the leaves, or you can place them in zip locks. Whatever method you use for storage, please make sure you keep them in a moisture-free area so you don’t lose your dried herbs to mold.

*Caution: Be sure to do adequate research before mixing certain herbs. Some do not mix well with others and may result in illness.

Richard Bogdanowicz

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