Tea with a Lid

Alison

I'm not sure if it was during the last Grow Network Summit or another of Doc Jones' other online videos, but he mentioned that when using herbs such as peppermint in a tea that it was best to use it in cold water steeped overnight.

I live in a cold climate and I'm not overly keen on cold herbal teas. I've only started to grow more accustomed to drinking any form of tea and that's by design. I'm much more of a coffee drinker.

Wanting to be healthier, and already growing a variety of herbs in the garden I started to drink them somewhat begrudgingly. While hot I am finding them more enjoyable; particularly in winter. Doc Jones however expressed that the volatile oils in herbs such as peppermint meant that having a hot tea would cause much of the beneficial oils to be lost in the steam.

I have chosen to overcome this by having my herbal teas in a ceramic mug with a lid or a stainless steel tumbler that also has a lid.

This way the tea can be made hot and steep for as long as I like, while the beneficial essential oils will rise, hit the lid and go back into the tea. The lids I have allow for a small portion to be opened to drink from so that most of the steam remains in the cup/ flask.

Any cup could be used if a small plate, saucer etc was placed on top that allowed for the steam to drip back into the cup. A small stainless steel cooking pot could be used with the lid on also. I am sure there are other ways to have a hot cup of herbal tea without loosing the beneficial elements.

I thought others out there might find this helpful. Of course, if it's hot weather or you are simply happy with cold tea, then Doc Jones' idea of steeping it in cold water overnight is a great idea.

Either way, Enjoy your cuppa ☕️

MelissaLynne

That is what I’ve been doing with my herbal teas. I made lemon balm and catnip tea yesterday. :)

Torey

Tea cups with lids have been around for a long time. There are some pretty elaborate china ones. And all sorts of modern ones available.

@Alison A lidded cup or pot is the way I was taught to use herbal teas that contained a lot of volatile oils. Sometimes you can't wait overnight for a tea to steep in cold water.

dottile46

Depending on the size of the cup, a regular or wide mouth canning flat works great too!

LaurieLovesLearning

I do this whenever I make tea.

kbmbillups1

I do the same thing but I use a small bowl that fits perfectly over my IKEA coffee cup as a makeshift lid.

I've also made rosemary water by leaving it sit overnight in room temp water. It was really good.

annbeck62

I also do that when making tea. I've also made herbal tea in a french press. It works great :)

ltwickey

I always make my tea this way. Even my sun tea! I fill the jar with hot water and tea bags and then place the lid on it and place it in the sun for 4-6 hours. Then it goes in the fridge to be enjoyed!