7 of Cathy’s favourite tea herbs

Chamomile Matricaria chamomilla, Matricaria recutita

Type: illness, sleep

Effects: calming for nervous and digestive systems, reduces the effect of stress, promotes peaceful sleep

German chamomile can be easily confused with other varieties. It's seedgrown with fine, soft, feathery foliage. The many daisies have a ring of white petals around a golden, mounded centre. It has a fantastic smell when freshly picked.

Wild chamomile looks similar, but it won't have the same scent. The perennial Roman chamomile (Anthemis nobile), often used for chamomile lawns, has a stronger, less grassy smell, and a bigger flower.

Skullcap Scutellaria lateriflora

Type: calming

Effects: relaxing and calming for the agitated mind or ‘busy brain'

This North American member of the mint family is Cathy's ‘go-to' herb for stress teas. It can be easily mixed with other herbs as it has little smell or taste. Cathy also adds it to her sleep teas.

Peppermint Mentha piperita

Type: digestive Effects: cooling to the body, uplifting to the nervous system

Makes an aromatic flavourful tea, great for the digestive system.

Liquorice Glycyrrhiza glabra

Type: digestive, illness

Effects: good for digestion, soothing

Liquorice is sweet, rich, and adds depth to a tea. It packs a punch – you don't need much of it – and it's a lovely winter tea, calming on the throat.

The part you harvest is the spreading, woody rhizome. It needs to grow for around three years before it's ready.

Elderberry Sambucus nigra

Type: illness Effects: anti-viral

Elderberries are high in vitamin C and stimulate the immune system. They're great for colds, flu, and sore throats, especially when combined with peppermint and yarrow.

The main challenge in growing the strong-flavoured delicious berries is beating the birds.

Elderberry flowers (elderflowers) have the same properties as the berries.

Tulsi (sacred or holy basil) Ocimum sanctum

Type: stress

Effects: builds energy, uplifts the spirit

In the herb world, tulsi is an 'adaptogen', helping the body regulate its stress response.

Its high levels of eugenol give it a subtle, spicy taste, which Cathy enhances with star anise, cardamom pods, and cinnamon bark.

Lemon balm Melissa officinalis

Type: illness, stress Effects: anti-microbial

Lemon balm is used to relieve tension and anxiety, to help with poor sleep, and it's anti-microbial.

It's great to have in the garden to pick for fresh tea. Watch where you plant it as similar to mint, it likes to spread.

Read more

Meet Nelson herbal tea producer Emma Heke and discover how she's converting even the most old-fashioned tea drinkers to fresh herb brews. thisNZlife.co.nz

Elderberries and elderflowers share the same properties... but it's easier to use the berries in tea