DIY herbal teas for the season: from your garden to the Thanksgiving table

Manufacturing eight ounces of coffee requires 29 gallons of water whereas tea requires only seven. So if you’re using virtual water standards, this makes tea a much more environmentally friendly option. Perhaps this lower environmental impact (in addition to great flavor and health benefits) is another reason why tea has been gaining popularity. (I know, I can dream.) Teas can be herbal and consist of roses, lavender, mint, chamomile, dandelion and other spices. Or they can be white, green and black tea-leaf-based.

This holiday season, why not opt for a greener beverage and while you’re at it make it even greener by making it yourself? Here are three fun DIY herbal teas you can prepare as you gather for Thanksgiving. (I found the inspiration for these recipes at instructables.com: Lavender mint, orange chamomile and orange ginger.) If you don’t want to make purely herbal teas you can always add in some green or black tea leaves to your mix. What you will need for each tea is as follows and most if not all of these ingredients can be grown in your own backyard.

  • Lavender mint: Food quality lavender and mint, both of these can come from your garden as long as you haven’t used any chemicals or pesticides not fit for human consumption.
  • Orange chamomile: fresh orange peels and chamomile from your local grocery store. And when you’re done peeling those oranges don’t toss the fruit; oranges are a great source of vitamin C and a tasty snack.
  • Orange ginger: fresh orange peels and fresh ginger root. Fresh ginger is great in cooking and may settle upset tummies.

To start: you need to wash, dry and roughly or finely chop your orange peel and ginger. The ginger and orange peel can safely be dehydrated in the oven. Note: before dicing, preheat your over to 200 degrees Fahrenheit.

Place diced orange peel and ginger either into a cupcake tray or on a cookie sheet covered with wax paper. Let them bake for about 2 hours or until dry. Just remember to mix or stir them every 10 to 30 minutes for even drying.

The mint, lavender and chamomile need to be dehydrated differently. If they are fresh you can use a dehydrator to dry them out or just do what me and my family do. Rough chop them and spread them out on a cookie sheet to air dry in the sun. If it’s windy out you might lose your herbs so you can also opt to dry them out indoors in a warm place or near a window that gets light.

Once your ingredients are dehydrated it’s time to make the tea mixes. Lavender mint and orange ginger are mixed in a one to one ratio, so use equal amounts of each ingredient to make your tea. Because chamomile is very subtle, orange chamomile is made in a three to one ratio. So it is three parts chamomile and one part orange. Once mixed you can keep your teas in a glass jar or metal tin, you just want to make sure the container is sealed to keep it fresh. If you want to give your tea away as a thanksgiving dinner favor for your guests, you can put the teas in smaller jars and add fun festive labels to them.

You can find these recipes and more at instructables. They also have fun DIY instructions for making individual tea bags and gift boxes – fun personal gifts to give to to your family and friends at this year’s Thanksgiving feast.

photos via instructables.com

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