Autumn has arrived, which means it’s time for soulful tea parties with family and friends, or just in the morning and evening, to greet or spend another gloomy day with pleasure. Of course, I want to prolong the summer, its warmth and the aroma of meadows and forests. The aromas of summer herbs, flowers and berries are the best guides to summer. After all, it is smells that give us the most vivid and lasting memories. And the best way to awaken the aroma of dried herbs is to brew tea with your own hands. If you don’t stock up on aromatic herbs in the summer, you have to drink flavored tea from the store, and this, unfortunately, is not as tasty and healthy as is commonly believed.

Tea itself is tasty and aromatic, but only if it is fresh and of sufficiently high quality. The tradition of adding aromatic substances to tea has a long history. These additives, naturally natural, have always played the role of second fiddle, complementing but not interrupting the rich taste and aroma of tea. In China, these are traditional flower petals - jasmine, lotus, osmanthus, rose, chrysanthemum and others. In England, tea with bergamot oil is popular, according to legend, obtained by accident. Tea with mint, thyme and St. John's wort has always been popular in Russia. And also an exclusively Russian invention - tea with lemon.

In modern retail chains, there is a separate class of teas with additives or flavorings. As a rule, this is not very fresh tea (a year or two from the moment of collection) and of low quality, which finds a second life thanks to artificial flavors. Modern tea manufacturers flavor it in four main ways:
- synthetic flavors,
- natural oils or essences,
- flavorings with the addition of natural berries and flowers,
- natural ingredients (fragrant herbs, berries, and flowers). With the first two methods, everything is clear: all manufacturers write the composition of the product on the packaging. It is a personal choice for the buyer whether to drink tea with “natural identical flavorings” or look for more expensive but truly natural flavored teas. Unfortunately, the demand for tea flavored with oils is very small, so it is unprofitable to produce it.

The third way to flavor tea is the most insidious. Typically, such teas are sold by weight, and there is no information about the ingredients on their packaging. The buyer sees that the tea contains pieces of berries, fruits, petals and herbs, and does not even think that this is just a successful marketing ploy. Natural ingredients mask the use of artificial flavors. To make sure of this, buy some tea by weight, flavored, for example, with orange or strawberry. Prepare your own similar mixture, brew and compare the taste and aroma. The natural mixture will be far from the richness of flavored tea. Draw your own conclusions.

Many flavored teas can be made independently and, most importantly, without harm to health, because for ourselves, of course, we will use only the best and natural ingredients.

In ancient China, they began to flavor tea with their own hands not because they had to sell last year’s tea, which had lost its aroma. The Chinese are an inquisitive people who love to experiment with everything edible. They added various herbs and flowers to tea to diversify the usual tea sensations and add a few more flavors to the already familiar and aromatic teas. This is how jasmine green tea was born, and it is still the most popular flavored tea in China. To achieve a delicate aroma and inconsistent taste of jasmine that did not interfere with the tea itself, the petals of jasmine flowers were dried along with tea leaves, placing the tea on lattice shelves on top of the jasmine, the vapors of which permeated the tea lying above with the aroma. This is the best, but also the most time-consuming way to flavor tea. Another method is to mix tea leaves and jasmine flowers in layers, and then carefully extract the jasmine. This method is faster and simpler, the aroma permeates the tea leaves more strongly, but the aroma is not as delicate as in the first case. The third method is to simply mix dry tea with dry jasmine petals. Thus, jasmine is brewed with tea - this is the simplest and crudest way to impart jasmine flavor to tea. This is done with any aromatic additives - they are either dried with tea, or mixed in dried form.

Separately, we can talk about the history of black tea with bergamot (Earl Grey). The fact is that this type of tea turned out completely by accident and is reminiscent of the story of the origin of the famous Madeira wine. One day, a ship with a cargo of tea and bergamot oil, caught in a severe storm, miraculously survived and arrived at its destination port in England. During the storm, the ship rocked so violently that bergamot oil fell on the tea boxes and soaked it well. The tea customer, seeing that the tea was spoiled, in despair wanted to throw away the entire batch of what was at that time a very expensive product, but, nevertheless, opening one of the boxes, he tried to brew the drink. The result seemed interesting to him, and he decided to put the tea on sale. After a short time, the tea was sold out, and the risky entrepreneur received a significant profit and a new type of tea. However, this is just one version of the origin of the popular variety of tea. One way or another, tea with bergamot oil is popular all over the world and is the second most popular after jasmine. In the modern tea industry, the following term is found on packages of bergamot tea: “flavor identical to natural”, this means that the aroma of bergamot was obtained synthetically and has nothing to do with bergamot. Usually such teas are cheap, the aroma of bergamot overpowers the tea, leaving it no chance. If you overdo it, this tea will become bitter. In contrast, teas flavored with natural bergamot oil, which must be indicated on the packaging, have a delicate, balanced taste.

In Russia there is a traditional tea flavoring originally from southern countries - lemon. Oddly enough, it appeared thanks to Russian roads. This tea was served in taverns to tired travelers traveling in carriages along Russian roads, so that they could come to their senses after a long shaking. The sour taste and aroma of lemon refreshed the traveler, helped get rid of lightheadedness and motion sickness, and also warmed and protected against colds. Subsequently, tea with lemon began to be drunk not only at stations and taverns, but also at home. It has spread so much around the world that it is called nothing less than “Russian tea.”

Additives to tea have always existed in Rus', long before the appearance of tea itself. Our ancestors brewed fragrant herbs to warm themselves, improve their health, or lift their spirits. Let's consider only the most common of them.

. Fragrant mint leaves brewed with black Indian tea create a truly homely mood. If the tea is not strong, this drink can calm and relax you in the evening. Mint is a very interesting additive. And it will be interesting not only for its aroma, but also for its beneficial properties. For example, for people who are incontinent during a feast, mint tea will help with a hangover in the morning. Mint also helps with indigestion, fever or extreme heat during a cold or flu. Mint will relieve irritation and reduce cough even with bronchitis. Turkish researchers have found that daily mint tea reduces unwanted hair growth in women, but there has been no fundamental research on this topic. And of course, mint calms, pacifies and gives healthy sleep - it was not for nothing that in the old days girls put mint under their pillow to see their future spouse in their dreams. Tea with mint is loved not only in Russia, but also far beyond its borders. For example, in Algeria they prepare very strong and very sweet mint tea. This drink has such a strong concentration of all components that it resembles a thick syrup.

. It is known that rose hips contain 50 times more vitamin C than fresh lemon. A huge amount of antioxidants in rose hips prevents the aging of the body, and potassium salts make the heart strong and prolong active life. In addition, rose hips contain a huge amount of microelements, vitamins, tannins and essential oils necessary for humans. All together it makes a very healthy drink. The aroma and taste of rosehip brewed with black tea is very interesting.

Currant leaves and berries. Everyone knows that currant leaves are traditionally added to homemade pickling. They give pickles a fresh summer morning flavor. The same currant leaves can also be added to tea. You can also brew dried berries, allowing them to swell and release their aroma. The taste of currants is tart, with a slight sourness, it will delight and invigorate you on a rainy autumn evening.

Tea with St. John's wort- truly a folk drink. Thrifty housewives harvest this herb in the summer and brew it in the fall, winter and early spring to prevent colds or to treat themselves to aromatic and fragrant tea that smells like a fresh meadow and the summer heat of the day. The beneficial properties of St. John's wort go far beyond the usual tea additive. St. John's wort contains a large amount of tannins and essential oils, which help avoid gum disease and inflammatory processes due to colitis. St. John's wort decoctions treat burns and skin diseases. St. John's wort helps relieve depression and bring oneself back to normal with nervous anxiety. St. John's wort will be useful for schoolchildren and students because it has the ability to concentrate attention. Older people with weak hearts can reduce the risk of seizures by using St. John's wort for its calming effects. The only contraindication to this wonderful aromatic herb is that St. John's wort increases sensitivity to ultraviolet rays, especially in fair-skinned people who do not tolerate tanning well. Therefore, tea with St. John's wort is best drunk in the cool season.

- a very tasty and healthy addition to tea, like many fruits of our land. You can brew both leaves and berries of cranberries. Freshly picked cranberries are especially rich in vitamins and beneficial active substances. The vitamin C content in cranberries is similar to that of oranges, lemons, grapefruits and garden strawberries. In addition to vitamin C, cranberries contain vitamins B1, B2, B5, B6, PP. And vitamin K1 (phylloquinone), found only in cabbage and cranberries, is simply necessary for the regulation of blood clotting and the absorption of calcium, an essential element for building bone tissue. Calcium is found in many foods, but is extremely difficult for the human body to absorb. Cranberries act as a transporter in this process. Making your own tea with cranberries is very easy - just grind it into a paste and brew it with your favorite tea.

There are several basic ways to prepare tea with any additive in the form of dried herbs or berries. In these cases, you can take any tea, but preferably the most common medium- or large-leaf black Indian, Ceylon or Chinese. Rough Kenyan black tea may well be suitable for these purposes. You can try it with pressed Chinese green teas. For example, Yunnan - their light smoky aroma and fairly thick and cloudy color of the infusion are perfect for brewing with herbs.

Method one.

Mix herbs and tea in a teapot, brew, pour into cups and drink. The disadvantage of this method is that the long brewing required for many herbs and berries spoils the taste of the tea. If you rely on the time of brewing tea, the taste and aroma of the additives will not be fully revealed.

Method two.

Brew the herb in a separate teapot, allowing it to brew for a little longer. Then mix together in a teapot where the tea is brewed. With this method, you can vary the content of additives in the drink from a few drops to equal parts.

Method three.

Make an intense decoction in a water bath. To do this, place the necessary components in a separate heat-resistant container, which we place in a pan of boiling water. Thus, the herbs are infused in hot, but not boiling water, which is important for preserving their beneficial properties. Under no circumstances should you brew tea this way - with prolonged heating, the tea becomes more harmful than beneficial. Therefore, we brew tea separately - as usual.

Method four.

Pour the herbs into warm water, bring to a boil and let steep for an hour. Mix the resulting infusion with separately brewed tea.

Method five.

It consists of steaming all the components in a thermos at a sufficiently high temperature. To do this, you need to take any thermos of suitable volume with a glass (not metal!) flask, place all the desired components there and fill it with hot, but not boiling water.

In conclusion, a few words should be said about the water used to brew tea. Water for herbal teas or tea with herbs and berries should be of the best quality (ideally from a spring), have no taste or smell, and not leave a lump in the throat or scale in the kettle. If such water is not available, you can use bottled water from artesian wells. Pay attention to the degree of water hardness. In spring water, the hardness indicator is a white precipitate that falls out. There is nothing wrong with it, but in such water the tea gives off less aroma and taste. In bottled water, the hardness of water is defined as moles per cubic meter (mol/m3), a good indicator is 1-5 mol/m3, acceptable - 5-7 mol/m3. More than 7 mol/m 3 has hard water, which is unsuitable for brewing tea. It is best to heat water in a regular enamel kettle over an open fire. The fire should be of medium intensity so that it is easier to understand when it needs to be turned off. The fact is that water for tea cannot be allowed to boil, otherwise all the salts and beneficial elements contained in the water will precipitate. The criterion for water readiness is a continuous chain of bubbles from the bottom of the kettle - this is the boiling stage, at which the fire should be turned off, the water should be allowed to calm down a little (literally a minute) and then the tea should be brewed. Don't be afraid that the water will cool down during this time. Try to avoid heating water in plastic electric kettles. The water in them boils unexpectedly, heats up unevenly, and the plastic walls may release a completely non-tea smell.

Be healthy and drink tea!

People have known the healing properties of herbal teas since ancient times. They were used not only to treat ailments, but also as a preventive measure, to increase vitality, and to generally improve health. In addition, unlike chemical medicines, herbal teas are a completely natural product that has a pleasant taste and wonderful aroma.

Herbal teas

Herbal teas, tinctures, decoctions - all these drinks came to us from ancient times. Already in those days, their beneficial properties were widely used by people. Then every housewife was a bit of a witch and knew what herbal teas to drink. All natural gifts were used: roots, herbs, berries.

From time immemorial, herbal infusions have been prepared that relieve fatigue, tone up in the morning, and help to fall asleep at a late hour. Medicinal teas relieved diseases and restored the body’s supply of vitamins and beneficial microelements. The best herbal teas are still used by people today.

Properties of herbal teas

What are the benefits of herbal tea? The recipes (you can easily brew any tea at home) are varied not only in their content, but also in their purpose. In addition to herbs, the collection may include various healing components: fruits, roots, buds. Sometimes traditional tea is also added to herbal teas. Fees can contain up to ten components.

Herbal teas are usually divided according to their effects into:

1. Medicinal.
2. Preventive.
3. Toning.
4. Calming.
5. Vitamin.

Ready-made herbal teas can be purchased at any pharmacy and supermarket. However, you should hardly rely on their quality, because no one can guarantee that they are made from natural and environmentally friendly raw materials. Since in our daily lives we consume many unnatural products that are harmful to the body, to maintain health we need natural herbs with all their beneficial properties.

The best option is to collect all the necessary plants yourself. Harvesting itself is a very interesting and exciting process that will bring you many pleasant moments of unity with nature. You just need to know the rules by which herbs are harvested.

Given the conditions of living in a metropolis and lack of time, not everyone will be able to find time to collect plants. Then we can advise you to purchase all the necessary herbs at the market; as a rule, there are grandmothers selling ready-made plants.

How to brew tea?

We would like to immediately note that only one plant is brewed for medicinal purposes. Then the finished drink will have a targeted effect. And mixed tea will have a whole range of medicinal effects, since it will contain a large number of biologically active substances that are found in different plants. At the same time, our unique organisms independently select the necessary elements from the entire presented complex and send them for processing into metabolic processes.

As a rule, herbal tea includes restorative and immunostimulating components. And most importantly, they do not contain caffeine, so the drinks can be given to children.

Main components of teas

What's in herbal tea? You can come up with a wide variety of recipes at home. However, first you need to understand which components are used in different situations.

So, let's list the most commonly used components:

1. Flowers of oregano, chamomile, linden, etc.
2. Raspberry, mint, currant, strawberry leaves.
3. Herbs: lemon balm, oregano, sage, thyme, valerian, St. John's wort.
4. The fruits of raspberries, hawthorn, sea buckthorn, currants, blackberries, rowan.

We emphasize once again that these are not all components; in fact, there are a lot of them. It is good to add different spices to the preparations; they add a refined taste and aroma, and also add additional vitamins. For such purposes, you can use cinnamon, vanilla, pepper, and cloves.

Medicinal tea

You need to understand that any medicinal herbal tea (recipes at home can be invented and modified) does not have an immediate effect. After all, this is not a pill, and therefore it takes some time. However, regular use of it will help cope with the problem. Herbal teas for every day (we will provide recipes in the article) will help to establish processes within the body:

1. To relieve stress, savory and licorice are added to tea.
2. Wormwood, sage, and licorice root are good for colds.
3. If you are prone to depression, you should regularly use St. John's wort, ginseng, and rosemary.
4. If you have stomach pain, add dandelion and dill flowers to your tea.
5. Tea with valerian, hop cones, chamomile, lemon balm, and verbena helps to cope with sleep disorders.
6. If you get irritated at the slightest reason, drink tea with valerian and lavender.
7. To relax and calm down, you should use a drink made from lemon balm, hops, and strawberry herbs.
8. Motherwort will help with heart problems.
9. Linden tea (we will discuss beneficial properties and contraindications below) has a wide range of qualities - antiseptic, choleretic, expectorant, diaphoretic, diuretic.
10. Mint, thyme and sage will help relieve frequent headaches.

You can add grated ginger to any of the listed preparations. It enhances the anti-inflammatory, expectorant, and stimulating effects of tea on the body.

Multivitamin herbal teas for every day

The recipes for such teas are not complicated, but the benefits from them are very great. They can be prepared based on fruits and berries. Herbal and are a storehouse of vitamins. Rose hips contain the most beneficial substances. Rowan berries, blackberries, strawberries, black and red currants, and sea buckthorn are also used to prepare decoctions. Not only healthy, but also delicious herbal teas are obtained by adding aromatic herbs: oregano.

To get a multivitamin drink, all ingredients are added in equal parts. This drink is brewed according to general rules. During the cold season, tea is drunk warm with the addition of honey and ginger. In summer, all decoctions and infusions can be consumed cold with the addition of ice. Such drinks are a good tonic in the heat.

Strawberry tea: strawberry leaves (10 g), St. John's wort (2 g), mint (2 g) are poured into a glass of boiling water. The drink is infused for ten minutes.

Heather heather (2 g), rose hip leaf (2 g), strawberry leaves (10 g) are poured with a glass of boiling water. Leave for five to ten minutes.

Rowan tea: dried rowan fruits (30 g), raspberries (5 g), currant leaves (2 g). Leave for five to ten minutes and use as tea leaves.

Tonic fees

Tonic teas are suitable for daily use; they not only taste pleasant, but also have a positive effect on the body. In the collections they put juniper, hawthorn, black currant, rowan, rose hip, oregano, blueberry, St. John's wort, calamus, mallow, cherry, valerian, calendula, mountain arnica, fireweed, coltsfoot, blueberry, plantain, drupe and bergenia.

Such preparations should be consumed hot in winter, and chilled in summer. Iced teas with a slice of lemon or zest, raspberry and blackberry leaves quench your thirst well and invigorate. In hot weather, you can add mint to green tea.

How to choose a tasty drink?

It's no secret that any herbal tea is bitter. Therefore, you must independently choose for yourself a collection that suits your taste. As a rule, one plant dominates the collection, and the rest only harmoniously complement it, emphasizing the taste.

The compositions always come out according to the following scheme: spices + aromatic herbs + leaves of a berry plant. The spices usually used are cinnamon, vanilla, anise, cloves, and star anise. All these ingredients harmonize perfectly and open up in a very special way if citrus fruits are added to tea.

What nuances about teas should you know?

How different herbal tea can be! A wide variety of recipes can be used at home. They will help diversify your regular menu, even if we're talking about not about food, but about drinks.

At home, you can prepare herbal teas from the following ingredients:

1. Orange slices, cinnamon, raspberry leaves.
2. Lemon slices, star anise, mint.
3. Cloves, lemon balm, sage,
4. Lemon zest, oregano, thyme.
5. Strawberry and cherry leaves, vanilla stick.

It is better to store all components for teas in paper bags or fabric bags, but no more than two years. But the roots can last for three years. Over time, herbs lose taste, smell and all useful microelements.

Ground citrus zest should be added to green or black tea in advance (for example, a couple of weeks in advance). In a closed container, the orange peels will give off their aroma to the tea petals. As a result, you will get a fragrant drink without artificial flavors.

I would like to point out that you should not long time use the same collection. The human body has such a feature as addiction. Herbs in this sense are no exception. Over time, the usual collection may not have the desired effect. Therefore, it is better to alternate tinctures.

Lime tea

The largest amount of useful substances is found in linden flowers. Essential oils and flavonoids are the main medicinal components. Linden blossom destroys bacteria in the human body, reduces fever, and removes phlegm.

For colds and flu, tinctures are used. For convulsions, rheumatism, diseases of the kidneys, gall bladder, stomach and intestines, colds and fever, take two to three glasses a day. The drink is prepared as follows: pour a few tablespoons of linden flowers into a glass of hot water.

Linden tea (useful properties and contraindications are given in the article) has a calming effect on the nervous system and significantly reduces blood viscosity. A drink made from flowers has completely unique properties. It contains a large amount of vitamins and other medicinal components. In addition, this tea tastes very pleasant and has a strong aroma.

Linden drink is used for hypertension, inflammatory diseases of the stomach and intestines, cystitis, pyelonephritis, and urolithiasis.

As for contraindications to the use of linden blossom, there are not so many of them. But you should still remember that the decoction has medicinal properties. Linden increases the body's defenses and has a diaphoretic effect. Therefore, tea puts stress on the heart. People with heart disease should not indulge in this drink every day.

Herbal tea is brewed similarly to green or black, but there are some nuances. As a rule, add a tablespoon of the mixture to two hundred grams of water. Brew the drink in a teapot, wrapping it in a towel. You can also use a thermos. It will make the tea stronger and richer.

The brewing process itself lasts:

1. Three minutes if we brew leaves and flowers.
2. Five minutes for seeds and leaves.
3. The buds and roots are brewed for ten minutes.

The finished drink should be strained.

Healing recipes

Herbal tea for coughs: pour a teaspoon of mint into a glass of boiling water and infuse for ten minutes. Take up to five times a day.

General strengthening drink: black currant leaves (1 part), raspberry leaves (1 part), oregano herb (1 part), bergenia leaves (3 parts).

Soothing (1 part), mint leaves (1 part), hawthorn (1 part fruits and leaves), lemon balm (1 part).

Raspberry leaves (1 part), strawberry (1 part), nettle and blackberry (one part each), apple peel (1/2 part).

General restorative infusions, multivitamins and soothing infusions can be drunk as regular tea after meals three times a day, or in smaller quantities. For example, calming before bed, and vitamin in the morning.

Drink for neuralgia and back pain: thyme (1 part), black elderberry fruit (1 part), linden blossom (2 parts). Tea is drunk in a long course up to four times a day (3 glasses).

Tea for gastritis and stomach ulcers: bergenia (1 part), mint (2 parts), chamomile (1 part), sage (2 parts), St. John's wort (2 parts), thyme (1 part). You should drink up to three glasses per day.

Are there any contraindications to the use of herbal teas?

People prone to allergic reactions should remember that the drink can cause an allergy attack. Therefore, for the first time using a new mixture, drink very little of it and make sure there are no side effects.

Most often, with an allergy to herbal preparations, dry and irritated skin and a small rash appear. Swelling may appear much less frequently. In general, people with bronchial asthma should treat herbal teas with great care.

At the first manifestations of an allergy, you should stop drinking the herbal drink and take Suprastin or Tavegil.

Medicinal teas should be consumed only after consultation with a doctor or as prescribed by a herbalist. The fact is that any herb, in addition to its beneficial effects, can have a negative effect on the body. Therefore, you should not self-medicate so as not to worsen your health condition.

If you nevertheless choose a mixture for yourself, then before using it, carefully study the indications and contraindications for the use of each individual component.

We invite you to familiarize yourself with the beneficial properties of some berries and herbs for making healthy and aromatic tea at home.

Tea made from dried strawberries

To prepare tea, take 1 teaspoon of dry berries, pour a glass of boiling water, leave for several minutes and drink. Dried strawberry tea can be brewed in a thermos. IN dried berries have a reddish color. Dry berries are stored in glass containers for one to two years.

Strawberry leaf tea

To prepare tea, take a teaspoon of dry leaves per glass of boiling water. Cover the kettle with a towel, let it brew and drink an aromatic drink with sugar or honey. Dried leaves can be stored for up to a year in glass or cardboard containers.

Rowan fruit tea

Tea can be prepared from one tablespoon of dried rowan fruits and one spoon of rose hips per 1 liter of boiling water. Boil, leave for an hour, heat again, strain and drink hot with sugar or honey.

The orange-red fruits are used to make rowan tea. The fruits are dried in the sun for several days, then dried in the oven; after drying, the blackened fruits are removed and stored for up to two years in a wooden container. Rowan fruits contain vitamins C, P, B, E, carotene, sugars - fructose, sucrose, glucose, sorbitol, organic acids - citric, malic and tartaric, tannins, essential oil, flavonoids.

Rose hip flower tea

To prepare tea, take one tablespoon of dried petals and brew a glass of boiling water. Cover the kettle with a napkin for 2-3 minutes.

The petals are dried in a shady, ventilated place. They should have a soft pink color. They are carefully placed in glass jars, tightly closed and stored for up to a year. Sozh contains vitamins C, P, B2, E, K, sugars, pectin substances, organic acids.

Mixed tea from mint leaves, oregano, St. John's wort

In equal parts peppermint, oregano and fireweed (fireweed). 1 tbsp. Brew a spoonful of the mixture with 500 ml of boiling water. Let it brew for 30 minutes, strain. Make a strong brew of green or black tea, add a pinch of mint. Take 0.5-1 glass for headaches.

You can also make healthy herbal drinks. Unlike regular black tea, they are infused longer - up to half an hour, and 1 tsp or 1 tbsp is taken. a spoonful of herbs per glass of boiling water.

Cherry leaf tea

You can pour a teaspoon of crushed cherry leaves into a glass of boiling water, leave for 20 minutes and drink with honey.

Delicious herbal tea is made from cherry twigs. This drink has an almond aroma and a rich red-brown color. Boil a handful of thin branches in 0.5 liters of water for a quarter of an hour and let them brew. The drink helps cope with indigestion and, thanks to its antiseptic effects, helps fight inflammatory processes.

Currant leaf tea

Currant leaves contain a lot of vitamin C. This tea is not only tasty for summer, but also healthy: it tones and strengthens the immune system. Add a few leaves to tea. Fresh and dried berries and leaves are used to make tea.

Tea with sea buckthorn. Sea buckthorn tea is made from fruits, seeds and leaves. Sea buckthorn berries are simply a storehouse of vitamins and microelements; it is very useful for colds, vitamin deficiencies, and strengthens the immune system.

Set for festive aromatic tea

The set includes: 1 tablespoon of sea buckthorn berries, 4 tablespoons of seeded rose hips, 1 tablespoon of dried apples, 3 tablespoons of fresh viburnum berries, 5 walnuts, a sprig of lemon balm. All components are mixed, poured with two liters of boiling water, left for 1 - 1.5 hours (can be done in a thermos). Served with sugar, honey, candied fruits or jam.

USEFUL TIPS

How to properly brew tea with herbal and berry additives.

• Mix tea and herbs in a teapot, pour boiling water, leave for 10-15 minutes. The disadvantage of this method is that it takes different amounts of time to brew herbs, berries and tea, which can lead to a distortion of the taste of the drink.
• We brew the herb separately and let it brew for a while, then pour the decoction into a teapot with brewed tea. This method allows you to select the quantity and concentration of the desired drink.
• You can prepare a herbal decoction in a water bath. To do this, place the herbs in a glass or enamel bowl and pour boiling water over them. Place this container in a pan of boiling water. Thanks to this method, the beneficial properties of herbs are preserved. In this case, tea must be brewed separately and then mixed with herbal infusion.
• Pour warm water over the herbs and bring to a boil over low heat. Let it brew for an hour. Mix the resulting infusion with separately brewed tea.
• Place all the necessary components in a thermos with a glass flask, fill it with hot but not boiling water and leave for about 40 minutes.

Fruit tea is a drink made from a mixture of dried or fresh fruits, berries, herbs and flowers. It can be made with water, juice or tea. Each of these methods has nuances in preparation.

1. Fruit water tea is brewed from dried fruits and herbs. Tea is usually not added (this drink does not contain caffeine). But if you simply pour boiling water over the dry mixture, you get a compote. Water must be boiled and cooled to 85–90 °C. The teapot must be warmed up and the drink allowed to brew for 8–10 minutes.
2. Fruit tea with juice is made both with and without the addition. In the first case, the juice must be heated, but not brought to a boil. In the second case, the juice is simply diluted with brewed tea. You can drink it either hot or chilled.
3. If the basis of fruit tea is black, green or white tea, then you need to first brew and let the latter brew, and then add a fruit blend to your taste. This drink perfectly quenches thirst, relieves fatigue and tones the body.

10 fruit tea recipes

liz west / Flickr.com

Grind 1-2 small pears using a blender. Brew jasmine tea (2 teaspoons per 0.5 liters of water). Add pear puree, juice of half a lemon and a cinnamon stick. Let sit for 10–15 minutes.

Gihan Dias / Flickr.com

Brew strong black tea (0.5 liters of water for 2-3 teaspoons of tea). Strain. When the tea has cooled, mix with half a glass of pineapple juice and the same amount of orange juice. Add a couple of tablespoons of lime juice, as well as fresh lime wedges and mint sprigs. If desired, you can add sugar.

Harry Knight / Flickr.com

You can use any berries: your favorite ones or those available in season. For example, you can take a couple of tablespoons of raspberries, currants and wild strawberries or a few strawberries. Mash the berries and mix with any fruit puree (3-4 tablespoons) and honey (2-3 tablespoons). Pour hot water over the berry mixture and leave to steep for 5 minutes.

Dominique Archambault / Flickr.com

Lightly mash the mint leaves to extract juice, add a tablespoon of green tea and pour boiling water over it. Select proportions based on the desired volume of the drink. An interesting flavor can be obtained by adding lemon balm to mint during brewing. This tea is best drunk hot.

In summer, you can cool it to room temperature and put it in the refrigerator for several hours. After this, strain, add a little honey and fresh mint sprigs and drink with ice.

Sherwin Huang / Flickr.com

Brew chamomile tea (2 tablespoons of dry chamomile per 0.5 liter of water). Add 2-3 orange mugs to it. Cover with a lid and let it brew. When cool, refrigerate for several hours, or preferably overnight. Before serving, strain the tea, add strawberries cut into large slices and sugar.

Nhã Lam / Flickr.com

Brew white tea (2-3 teaspoons per 0.5 liters of water). Strain and let cool. Then mix it with half a glass of peach juice. Add a couple of fresh diced peaches. Place the drink in the refrigerator for several hours.

Twinings.co.uk

Brew 0.5 liters of black flavored tea with strawberry flavor (can be from bags). While it is hot, melt 3 tablespoons of honey in it. Add coarsely chopped strawberries (5-6 pieces) and mango (1-2 fruits) to the cooled drink. Place it in the refrigerator for several hours. Drink with ice and mint sprigs.

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Mix 0.5 liters of strong black tea with a glass of watermelon juice with pulp. Leave to cool for 1.5–2 hours. Before serving, add large slices and garnish with a sprig of fresh basil.

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Make 0.5 liters of hibiscus (this is tea made from the flowers of the Chinese rose - hibiscus). Add sugar to taste. You can drink it immediately hot, or when it cools down, pour in a glass of apple cider and add slices of fresh lemon with ice.

Myrecipes.com

Bring 0.5 cups of freshly squeezed lemon juice to a boil along with the currants. Cook for 5 minutes, then remove from heat and strain the berries through a sieve. Mix the resulting currant puree with 500 milliliters of black tea. Add sugar, ice and fresh currants. Garnish with lemon zest and enjoy.

In the 17th century, a new era began in Russia, associated not only with the name of Peter I, but also with the appearance of a drink made from tea leaves in Russian culture.

The Chinese plant is so beloved that it is now simply unthinkable to imagine life without it.

However, tea traditions are not limited to brewing black or green varieties of the drink.

Tea at home can be brewed according to special recipes or prepared from traditional herbs.

It will turn out no less tasty and healthy.

Tea at home: black or green?

There is no arguing about tastes, so there is no point in discussing which is better: black or green tea. Moreover, in fact we are talking about the same plant, the leaves of which have undergone varying degrees of fermentation. The same applies to exotic white, red, yellow varieties.

The degree of fermentation determines the taste and color of the tea. Non-fermented or slightly fermented teas convey their natural taste and aroma in a cup in an almost unchanged form. These are green, yellow, white varieties in which fermentation is stopped by roasting the leaves. The color of the drink is quite pale. Black (as well as red) varieties of tea give a thick, rich color and aroma.

When brewing tea at home, you should follow the general rule: Pre-dip the dishes with boiling water, that is, warm the walls of the teapot well. This is necessary so that the tea leaves release all their aroma. Now the most important thing is to prevent the leaves from rotting and at the same time ensure sufficient temperature conditions.

The classic proportion of dry tea and water is a teaspoon per mug and another additional spoon for the entire teapot. When brewing quickly and not quite correctly, tea is simply poured with boiling water and left to steep for six to seven minutes.

There is another a more correct way:

Pour the measured amount of tea with boiling water halfway, cover with a lid, and cover the spout of the teapot with a woven napkin. This is necessary in order to preserve the benefits and aroma of essential oils;

After three minutes, add boiling water, leaving at least a centimeter between the surface of the water and the lid;

Infuse the drink: green tea – eight minutes, black tea – five to six minutes.

In Russia, it is customary to prepare tea leaves - a thick tea infusion, which is subsequently diluted with water. This is convenient because it is fast, simple and plentiful: you can give a drink to a large number of people. But in eastern countries and England, tea infusion is not diluted with water.

Black tea leaves should not be brewed more than once. The maximum that can be done is to “marry” the drink if it has just been prepared and the guests have drunk everything. The taste and aroma are weaker. But green varieties can easily withstand brewing five or even seven times, each time delighting with a new shade of taste.

You should drink the infusion made from black tea throughout the day. After spending the night in the brewer, the drink will turn from healthy into dangerous (an Eastern proverb compares it to the venom of a snake). And all because of a special substance - guanine, which, as a result of oxidation, turns into toxic guanidine.

If a film has formed on the surface of the tea, if the tea has clearly overstayed (it is especially dangerous to brew it in a thermos and leave it for a long time), or if it has overheated, you should not drink such a drink, as you can be seriously poisoned. Guanidine affects the heart and blood vessels, causes speech impairment, a surge in blood pressure, affects the liver, reduces calcium in the blood, and provokes the development of gout.

Tea at home: preparing herbal infusions yourself

In Rus', herbal teas have always been held in high esteem, which we still drink with pleasure today. You can prepare them yourself using the same technologies as for preparing Chinese tea: drying, rolling, withering, fermentation.

Tea at home is prepared from the leaves of forest or garden plants, and when brewing, you can add berries, fruits and even nuts to it. Simply drying the grass and the grass is not enough (it will turn out tasteless). Ideally, you need to go through the entire technological chain to get a truly healthy and tasty drink.

Leaves of raspberry, strawberry, lingonberry, blueberry, currant, blueberry, as well as linden blossom, heather, fireweed (fireweed), mint, chamomile, etc. are suitable for harvesting. You can only brew plant petals (rose, jasmine). Tea at home can be prepared either entirely from herbal infusions or by adding it to regular black or green tea when brewing.

Processing stages.

1. Spread the raw materials on a dry surface in a thin layer of three to four centimeters and leave in the shade for five to eight hours. This is the wilting stage, which is necessary to prevent the leaves from becoming brittle.

2. Now you need to twist the wilted leaves a little, rubbing them with your palms.

3. At the fermentation stage, the raw materials are poured into any container (a wooden box, a yogurt maker, a turned off oven. The point is to create a moist, warm environment. The layer of leaves should be no thicker than five centimeters. To create a moist environment, you can cover the container with a piece of wet cloth. Time fermentation - approximately ten hours. Ambient temperature - at least 26 degrees. After fermentation, the leaves will become dark.

4. The last stage of the preparation is drying. The prepared raw materials should be placed in the oven at a temperature of approximately 100 degrees and dried for about an hour, constantly checking readiness.

To prepare traditional teas, dried rose hips, viburnum, and frozen berries (strawberries, sea buckthorn, currants, cherries) are used.

The peels of citrus plants are also a wonderful product for making flavored tea at home. They are used not with herbal teas, but with ordinary black or green tea leaves.

Tea at home: popular drink options

The most popular are flavored or specialty drinks. Here are some of the most popular tea options at home.

Mint

Two tablespoons of dried mint, three teaspoons of regular tea leaves, four clove buds and a pinch of cinnamon (or a cinnamon stick). Pour the mixture with half a liter of boiling water, leave for about five minutes, then pour into cups and sweeten with honey if desired.

Mint tea is good both warm and cold. It is wonderfully invigorating in the morning, relaxes in the evening, and improves digestion throughout the day.

Ginger

Grate a piece of fresh ginger root. In a liter of boiling water you need to throw three tablespoons of ginger, boil it for two minutes, then strain, add lemon cut into slices, a pinch of black pepper, two mint leaves, leave for five minutes. Strain, pour into cups, if desired, add a little honey.

Ginger tea perfectly restores digestive processes, cleanses the body, improves complexion, thins the blood and prevents colds.

Chamomile

A tablespoon of chamomile should be poured into half a liter of boiled water and left for fifteen minutes. After straining, add honey and drink warm, because cooled chamomile tea loses all its benefits.

And the benefits are considerable. The drink relieves headaches, normalizes digestion, relieves insomnia, helps control appetite, removes excess fluid from the body, and strengthens the nerves. Chamomile tea is useful for gastritis, liver diseases, diabetes and ulcers.

Apple cinnamon

Cut the apple into slices, put in a teapot along with a tablespoon of black or green tea, and a cinnamon stick. Pour two glasses of boiling water, leave for ten minutes and strain.

This drink can stop a cold if you drink it within the first hours after the first symptoms of illness appear.

Sea buckthorn

Thaw a glass of frozen sea buckthorn berries. Pour two cups of boiling water, add two tablespoons of regular tea leaves (black or green), leave for fifteen minutes. Drink warm, sweeten with honey if desired.

Citrus-nutmeg

Brew regular black tea, adding the zest taken from one lemon and the juice squeezed from one grapefruit. Leave for eight minutes, then strain. Add half a spoon of grated nutmeg, sweeten with honey or brown sugar.

The drink has powerful anti-inflammatory properties, increases the body's immune strength, and tones well.

You can mix fruit and herbal teas at your discretion. Linden blossom, calendula, thyme, coltsfoot, lemongrass, dried berries, eucalyptus, bay leaves, dried slices of pineapple, apple, banana, pear, peel of citrus plants - all this plant abundance goes well with green and black varieties of traditional tea .

Tea at home: unusual recipes

So many traditional and unusual recipes for tea at home have been invented that you can drink more and more new versions of the drink almost all year round.

Chinese punch

Tea with added alcohol perfectly warms and lifts your spirits. the main thing is to stop in time.

For half a liter of boiling water, take two tablespoons of black tea, the juice of one lemon and one orange, one tablespoon each of cognac and rum (or two spoons of one alcoholic drink). Brew, insist, strain. Can be sweetened with honey or sugar. When pouring, you can use the Chinese secret: raise the kettle high so that the drink has time to become saturated with oxygen before it enters the cup.

Iced tea (ice tea)

Brew regular black tea. Place one hundred grams of ice cream at the bottom of the glass, pour in the juice of one orange, two tablespoons of lemon juice, pour in a small amount of chilled drinking cream, then top up with cold sweetened tea.

Egg-nutmeg

Brew black or green tea. While it is brewing, beat the egg with a pinch of nutmeg and a spoonful of sugar until a fluffy foam is obtained. Pour tea into the bowl, add the egg-nutmeg mixture, stir. If desired, add a spoonful of rum or cognac.

Mineral

Brew black tea according to the basic recipe, adding a clove bud, a cinnamon stick and a piece of fresh ginger. Separately, brew mint tea. Strain both drinks and combine them. Squeeze two tablespoons of lemon juice. Pour the tea mixture into cups, filling halfway. Pour a spoonful of lemon juice into each serving, add sparkling water (unsalted), and add an ice cube if desired.

Milky (steppe)

This version of tea at home is one of the recipes used by nomadic tribes. For six tablespoons of black tea you will need half a liter of water and two liters of milk. Pour hot milk and boiling water over the tea leaves, simmer the mixture over low heat for ten minutes, leave for another ten to fifteen minutes. Strain, add a little salt and drink.

Herbal

Brew fireweed tea (a spoonful of dried herbs per glass of water). You will need three glasses of the finished drink. Pour it into a saucepan, add a teaspoon of cardamom, three clove buds, and a glass of vodka. Bring the mixture to a boil, then leave for ten minutes. Strain, add honey.

The beauty of tea is that you never get tired of it. Whatever brewing recipe you use, you will get a delicious tonic drink.