All About Tea
Herbal teas are made for healing the body. God gave us herbs to use for a variety of ailments when we need them. Many herbs are food, and some are for external use only, but both are helpful to the human body in many applications. Herbal teas are one of the quickest ways to get that health in your body quick. There are many ways to preserve herbs for medicinal benefits for consumption; you could make a tincture, oxymel, elixer, glycerite, electuary, decoction, infusion, or dehydrate for a tea! (Please note that herbal research is needed because not all herbs are safe for consumption, and not all herbs are great for an infusion or tincture.) But teas are one of the fastest, effective, and easy ways to get those medicinal herbs in your system quickly when you need it.
Fresh Herbal Teas Vs. Store-Bought Teas
Many of the teas you see in the grocery store are filled with familiar flavors. You might pick up a citrus blend or maybe peach or chai. There are a multitude of holiday blends and even some that are are herbal teas. These are great for a feel-good cup of warm tea, but rarely give you any health benefits. There are a few reasons for this: The teas that are on the shelves have most likely been in storage for years and herbs lose much of their potency after a year (or two if stored correctly). The herbs used in store-bought teas many times are not organic which can enhance the chemicals that were on them as much as the tea. And lastly, the teas are not herbal teas, but just yummy blends.
Fresh herbal teas, on the other hand, are filled with beneficial properties still stored in the leaf, root, or flower, that actually help heal your body and give you medicinal health benefits.
The taste of an herbal tea typically is what they call "woody" or "earthy" tasting. Not all herbal teas taste that way, but you can add your own organic flavored teabags in with the medicinal teas to enhance the taste! Add in a lemon slice, orange slice, berries, a peach teabag, peppermint teabag, or whatever flavors you'd like to try. And if hot tea isn't your thing, make an iced tea out of it by adding ice cubes after brewing.
How to Properly Make a Tea
We've typically been trained to boil water and immediately pour it over the tea bag and let it sit for a couple of minutes. The problem with this is herbs are delicate and boiling water will burn the medicinal properties out of them, and a few minutes of brew time doesn't quite get everything you can out of the herb.
To properly make a tea, use a minimum of one tablespoon of tea per tea cup in a tea diffuser or tea bag. Cover the mug with a towel or plate and steep for 15 minutes using hot (not boiling) water. Steeping for this long ensures you are getting all of the medicinal components out of the herbs.
Sweeten with local, raw honey for the best results. Adding sugar to your tea conflicts with the health benefits of it. There are many other natural sweeteners that you could use as well.
Before Consuming Tea, Do a Self Skin-Patch Test
Just as there are allergies to western medicines, there are allergies in the natural world as well. Always test the products before use. To do this, you can use a self patch test by applying the product (whether designed for internal or external use) to the forearm, wrist, or neck. Soak a cotton swab if necessary. Cover and let sit for 24 hours. If there is no reaction (redness, itching, swelling, burning, rash), it is typically safe. Continue to test for seven days if you are still unsure. If using internally, always test one drop first and give it time before continuing, and then increase slowly.
