Houston Chronicle

Making tea with herbs fromyour own garden.

- By Howard Garrett

Herb tea made properly can be an important part of your health management program. I use many herbs from my own garden that can include thyme, basil, garden sage, hibiscus flower petals, Turk’s cap flowers and fruit, lemongrass and lemon verbena, peppermint, spearmint, anise hyssop, bay, rosemary, fennel, oregano and chamomile. I also use elderberry fruit and leaves and blackberry fruit and leaves.

Ginger is one of my favorite ingredient­s. Growing it organicall­y at home is the best method. I use about a tablespoon­size piece of the root cut into slivers by cutting with the grain, not across it. I often add one or more of the herbs mentioned above to the ginger base.

To make the tea, crush the ingredient­s and put them in a glazed (inside and out) tea pot. Pour not-quite-boiling water from a glass kettle over the herbs. Boiling water can damage many of the health- giving properties of the culinary and medicinal herbs. Let the tea steep for three to 10 minutes, depending on your taste. Tannic acid increases with time and will make the tea stronger and even bitter.

Unsweetene­d tea can taste really good, but lemon juice, raw honey, Stevia, apple cider vinegar or other flavors can be added. Wait until the tea has cooled down a bit before you add them. Enjoy the tea hot or later with ice cubes.

Some exotic herbs can also be used for flavor and health benefits. The two I now enjoy regularly are yerba mate and osh root. I often use green tea as well.

Yerba mate is an herbal tea made from the leaves and twigs of the Ilex paraguarie­nsis holly plant. It is a very popular drink in South America and is often enjoyed there all day long. It contains less caffeine than coffee, but like any caffeinate­d food or beverage, it can increase your energy and make you feel more alert.

Osh (pronounced o-SHAW) is a perennial herb found in parts of the Rocky Mountains and northern Mexico, especially in the southweste­rn United States. The roots have a wonderful fragrance and taste.

Other common names for osh include bear root, Porter’s lovage, Porter’s licorice-root, wild lovage, loveroot, Porter’s ligusticum, bear medicine, Colorado cough root, Indian root, Indian parsley, wild parsley, mountain ginseng and mountain carrot. Yes — that’s one of the problems with common names.

My favorite tea these days is a mixture of ginger, osh root, yerba mate, dried chili pequin peppers (not too many) and a touch of raw honey.

 ?? SusanWood ?? Pineapple sage has a fruity fragrance and can be used in herbal teas.
SusanWood Pineapple sage has a fruity fragrance and can be used in herbal teas.
 ?? Getty Images ?? Elderberry tea with elderflowe­rs
Getty Images Elderberry tea with elderflowe­rs

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