Ok, so I realize I’ve been on a tea/herb kick lately. But over the weekend, I did an experimental run on a sun tea that Dad requested. He wanted an easy sun tea, so I concocted a blend and here it is:
Ingredients:
2 tsp Jasmine flowers
2 tsp Rose buds (dried, or fresh petals from your own rose bush)
1 tsp dried Chamomile
8-10 leaves fresh lemon balm, torn in half (or 2-3 tsp dried)
Directions:
Place all ingredients in large pitcher. Fill with 2 quarts cold water. Place in direct sunlight for 2.5-3 hours. Strain and chill in fridge. This makes the perfect strength of tea, so you won’t need to add ice. If you want to serve it over ice, place same amount of tea into 1.5 quarts cold water, then steep in sun for same amount of time. I personally like it ‘not too cold’ so I didn’t add ice to my glass. It is so refreshing! You can sweeten with nectar if you so choose, but because of the floral aspect I didn’t need to sweeten, so taste it first.
The lemon balm is key. I tried making this once before, and I didn’t use lemon balm…let’s just say, some experiments are destined to fail. So this time, I added lemon balm and it turned out absolutely wonderful!
The ingredients can typically be found in any herbal store that also sells tea. Search for one in your local area, or purchase online at any herbal tea store (such as Mountain Rose herbs – just search for the ingredients and they’ll come up).
Happy Teatime!
Addendum: I made this tea over the weekend, and added 1 tsp of dried peppermint! It totally knocked my socks off! I made it on Saturday late afternoon and finished the entire pitcher by Sunday early evening!! Usually a pitcher of tea will last me a few more days than just 24 hours…this was simply too good to stop!
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What a great tea recipe. I have yet to blend my own teas – mostly due to fear of the unknown!
One day I’ll be adventurous…
I hear ya, I wouldn’t have come up with this blend had I not been inspired by a blend at the herb store, but was too pricey to buy as a blend. So I bought most of the ingredients, as I already had some of them at home. But then when I got home, couldn’t remember it entirely..so I just started smelling and blending. It’s like cooking, what smells good together will 90% of the time taste good together… And you can always test with small batches…that’s what I tend to do, then upscale once something works out!
Ok, so I just checked and you can purchase from Phoenix Herb online. I’ll put a link here, but also under the ‘Cash or Charge?’ link list…
http://www.phoenixherbcompany.com/index.php
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Yep….the tea is a hit, not too sweet and a dash of Nectar was just right. It was a snap to make, no muss, no fuss. I strained the tea through a coffee filter and it looks clean and clear in the pitcher. I’m like Sara in the fact that it tastes great without ice, just chilled a bit and I’m good to go.
Dad
Thanks Dad!! Glad you liked it….now, I’ll need to come up with another concoction for you to taste