Why you should make your own herbal tea blends
By Autumn Sevy
Making tea is a liberating experience and a sustainable one. You don’t need to be an herb gardener to incorporate this practice into your life, although starting a few plants in your apartment is possible!
Buying commercially grown tea often comes with many environmental and ethical concerns. Tea plantation workers are often women who endure highly labor-intensive work for low wages.
White, green and black tea come from the same plant: camellia sinensis. These plants are most likely grown in monocultures, meaning farmers cultivate only one species in a singular space.
Planting crops in this way reduces biodiversity, increases the risk of plant diseases and often uses large amounts of pesticides and herbicides. Even organic monocultures strip the soil of nutrients and contribute to topsoil erosion.
When buying teas, search for small, local companies, organic loose-leaf teas and organizations that are fully transparent about their suppliers. Better yet, it can be completely free to forage, grow and save food scraps for your personal tea blends.
Try making this tea blend using only three ingredients you can easily find in urban spaces.
Citrus peel
A small basket sits on my counter year-round, catching the discarded remnants of every citrus fruit that finds its way into our fridge.
In Chinese, tangerine peel is called chen pi. My mom always told me that it means “old skin,” which is a fitting but not very appetizing name for this bitter, astringent herb.
Tangerine peels are sun-dried with their piths removed, taking away some of the bitterness. As they age, they darken in color and deepen in fragrance.
For me, dried tangerine or citrus peel is a nostalgic, uplifting addition to this tea blend. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, chen pi encourages digestion and relieves chest congestion. We take salted, preserved peels on long car journeys to prevent nausea.
My family consumes many tangerines, oranges and lemons during the citrus season. I always try to dry the skin and save it for later use.
For this blend, use what you have in season, the fruit you regularly consume or source your herbs from a reputable company. I’d recommend trying grapefruit or tangerine peels in this tea.
Rose petals
In June, when the bright reds, yellows and pinks of roses bloom in my garden, I gently pull several flower heads from their stalks and dry them under the sun.
Roses grow wild here in Oregon. They are everywhere in my neighborhood, with their bright pink flowers and clusters of drooping crimson fruit. Pick petals to add a light, floral scent to jams, sugar scrubs and cakes. Every fall, we pick rose hips and process them for a vitamin C-rich tea or syrup.
In modern Western herbalism, rose is a calming herb to maintain wellness and ease anxiety or insomnia.
For this recipe, feel free to forage for rose petals, substitute rose with another floral herb such as bergamot or purchase rose from a local source.
Blackberry leaves
As winter turns to spring and young blackberry shoots emerge from the graying brambles, I pick the new leaves before their backs turn spiny and the plant starts to bear fruit.
Blackberry leaf tea strongly resembles white tea. The taste is mellow and floral. By collecting the leaves of invasive Himalayan blackberries, you could gather enough tea to last at least six months.
The blackberry plant is a powerful medicinal herb containing antimicrobial and antioxidant properties. Traditional Western home remedies for anemia, the regulation of menstruation, diarrhea and sore throats often included blackberry leaves and roots.
Through fermentation, the flavor profile of blackberry leaves can deepen. Individual leaves are rolled or bruised and placed in a warm spot for several weeks. But for this recipe, I prefer the subtle taste of freshly dried leaves.
Recipe for herbal tea
Ingredients
1 part dried citrus peels
1 part dried rose petals
1 part dried blackberry leaves
Instructions
Dry all your ingredients separately in a dehydrator, in a sunny spot, or an oven with a temperature setting of less than 180 degrees Fahrenheit.
Crumble your dried herbs lightly using your hands. You want your tea to be fine enough that the herbs mix, but not too small as they can become stale.
Combine all of your herbs in a sealable jar or container.
To brew, steep 1 tbsp of your blend in 1 cup of hot water for 5 minutes. I enjoy this tea with a slice of lemon and homemade vegan honey.
