Herbal Sun Tea
A few weeks ago my friend mentioned that she bought some water at the store that was flavored with mint, lavender, and lemongrass. It cost $2 for a tiny bottle. I told her to not even think about buying it again since we could make flavored water with herbs growing in my backyard for free.
Since then I’ve been experimenting with brewing herbal sun tea. It is ridiculously easy. Simply pick a great big handful of herbs, stuff them into a large jar, fill it with water, screw on a lid and set it in a sunny spot for a 4 to 6 hours. That’s it! The results are amazing. So far plain peppermint is my favorite, but lemon balm and lavender was quite tasty too. Here are a few other combinations I’m planning on trying:
Basil & Cucumber
Anise Hyssop & Fennel Fronds
Chocolate Mint & Orange Slices
Spearmint & Chamomile
Plain Pineapple Sage
Rosemary & Lemon Slices
Lemon Verbena & Anise Hyssop (or Fennel Fronds)
Rose Geranium & Chocolate Mint
Making this tea is so much fun. The combinations are pretty much endless and it is a great way to utilize herbs, especially the more unusual ones, like the fruit sages and scented geraniums. We have a Penguin (a kitchen gadget that makes carbonated water out of tap water), and I’m thinking about making some sparkling flavored waters for an upcoming car trip. I love the idea of taking a bit of my garden on the road!
Genius. Making a lemon verbena sun tea RIGHT NOW.
July 27th, 2010 at 1:38 pm.-= Lelo´s last blog ..What does your garden sound like =-.
To enhance the flavor more quickly you can add the herbs to the jar, cover them with boiling water, steep for 10 minutes then fill the jar up with cool water, let sit in the sun to continue to steep, or refrigerate for later. Anything lemon flavored sounds good to me!
July 27th, 2010 at 2:00 pmYum, pineapple+sage sounds amazing!
July 27th, 2010 at 7:55 pm.-= Sunshine+Design´s last blog ..Glass water bottle BPA Free =-.
Great idea! Yum! I have been making mint sun tea…but it didn’t cross my mind to use mint from my garden.
July 27th, 2010 at 8:55 pm.-= meg´s last blog ..Live from Ocean Isle Beach =-.
Ohh, i want to try all of these combos, but my herb garden is limited to the basics this year. Love adding lemon verbena when brewing black iced tea. Also, love adding homemade lavender sugar to black iced. Since I’m on a mojito kick, I’m betting a little crushed mint and a squeeze of lime would make for extra refreshing glass of water.
July 27th, 2010 at 11:24 pm.-= Sasha´s last blog ..Mojitos Cleaning Aid =-.
Wilie, at the Corson Class I mentioned that the crows got to one of my pea seed packets, spilled them all over a gravel path in my yard, and now they have sprouted all over the place. They are now about 6 to 8 inches tall! Is it possible to transplant them into my garden? Or are they doomed due to the hot weather? Any advice (from anyone)would be much appreciated. Right now they are doing better than most of the other plants in my garden!!
July 28th, 2010 at 5:01 pmthanks for the great idea!! made ginger mint tea today with fresh minced ginger and fresh mint leaves….it was tasty!!
July 28th, 2010 at 7:46 pmtoo funny! i’m writing my design sponge “small measures” post, which is on “herbal sun teas and simple syrups”! i decided to take a break and catch up on some blog reading when, lo and behold, i find this! seems that even though we’re on separate coasts, we’re still on the same wavelength! i’ll link to this post in my article tomorrow. my best, willi!
July 29th, 2010 at 6:30 am.-= ashley english´s last blog ..Cucurbit Love =-.
I LOVE this idea! What a great way to use extra hearbs. I’m going to make this first thing Sunday morning! Thanks Willi!
July 29th, 2010 at 6:38 am.-= chassie´s last blog ..Drinks Anyone =-.
Lelo–I’m jealous that you have a big lemon verbena. Mine 3-year old plant died over the winter so I only have a baby this year
Rebecca–Your version sounds perfect if you want tea but don’t have time to wait 4 hours!
Meg–I totally get it, I make black sun tea all the time but just started making the herbal sun tea.
Sasha–I love the virgin mojito idea.
Karen–At this point I would probably cut them down and use them in a stir fry.
Becca–oh, that sounds so good! I’m putting that combo on my must-make list!
Ashley–So funny! I also love to make herbal simple syrups (lemon verbena is my favorite)
Chassie–Thanks, Chassie. BTW, I love your blueberry oatmeal recipe on your blog. It is so good! My blueberries are just starting to ripen and I can’t wait to make it with homegrown blueberries!
July 29th, 2010 at 8:31 amChocolate mint and orange sounds heavenly — I’ve never done that flavor before! Now if this dastardly summer fog would just blow out of here!
July 30th, 2010 at 10:48 am.-= Kelly´s last blog ..summer food and drink- mint syrup =-.
Yum… I’m going to have to try this! All of your combinations sound wonderful!
August 14th, 2010 at 8:59 am.-= Terri´s last blog ..A Lovely Space =-.
Oh my gosh! This is so simple that it is brilliant. Kind of mad that I did not think of it myself. Thank you for sharing. I am off to the backyard to figure out what herbs I will use in mine.
September 4th, 2010 at 7:35 am