Basil tea is a soothing herbal infusion. It can made from fresh or dried leaves but the best basil tea is when it’s fresh. Potential health benefits like aiding digestion and reducting stress are only a few minutes away. In this illustrated how-to learn the simple steps to brewing basil right from your garden.
How to Brew Basil Tea
Any type of basil leaves will work in basil tea. Combine different basil plants and varietys for new favors. Sweet basil and holy basil are popular varities for basil tea. Thai basil has a licorice flavor and lemon – well, you guessed it.
Harvest the basil with clean clippers or scissors. When choosing which leaves to harvest, choose younger leaves at the top of the plant. Not only are newer leaves more flavorful, cutting the younger leaves encourages the basil to grow bushier.
After harvesting the leaves, clean and strain them. No need to clean up or trim off any stems or excess.
Add a cup of water for every handful of leaves you’ve harvested. Seep in hot water for three to five minutes. The longer the basil sits, the stronger the basil tea will be. The tea can seep for as long as 20-30 minutes – expiriment for your favorites.
Basil tea can be drank warm, after the leaves are strained off.
Don’t forget the Honey
Add honey while the tea is still warm. Sweeteners like honey won’t mix well when the tea is cool. Pour this infusion over ice with lemon for an incredibly refreshing taste for summer.
Enjoy the aromas of herbal, licorice, anise and pepper. Explore more add in you have on hand like mint or cinnamon. Store in the fridge for one week and enjoy this unquie summer drink with family or a brew for a special summer event.
Interested in another light drink for the whole family? Try extremly simple non-alcoholic apple cider.