If you read our blog or follow us on Instagram, you’ll know how much we love herbal tea.
Before we started Plantables, we used to drink herbal tea from tea bags. We loved it. It was good for us, tasty and a great way to cut down on our caffeine intake.
And then one day, we thought: why can’t we grow our own herbal tea plants?
So that’s what we did.
And ever since we snipped our first leaves and steeped them in hot water, it’s all we’ve been drinking at the office. We’re obsessed with it.
The herbal tea bags we used to love just don’t come close any more. It’s just so much fresher and packed full of flavour!
And if you’re thinking “boy, that does sound good, but that sounds like a lot of work” then think again!
For starters, we grow these plants to be hardy and healthy so that you can grow them anywhere there’s decent natural light; in your garden, on your balcony, in a pot, on your decking, in your kitchen…
That said, we highly recommend planting them in pots and having them in your kitchen for a number of reasons. Firstly, they smell insanely good. Secondly, it’s convenient to just pick, steep and sip without having to go outside. And thirdly, we love greenery in the house.
(If you’re going to plant them outside, make sure you read this post. Some of them need a little TLC and special conditions if you’re planting outside.)
In fact, the whole process is so easy, we can boil it down to three steps.
Growing Your Own Herbal Tea: Step 1
This step is easy. Head to our Herbal Tea Kit page, add it to your cart and order it to your house whenever you want it to arrive.
Boom. Onto Step Two.
Growing Your Own Herbal Tea: Step 2
Once the herbal tea plants have arrived on your doorstep, take them out of the box and give them a while to adjust to their new home. 12-24 hours is best, if you can, they’ve been on a long road trip, so they might be a little groggy and grouchy.
Then all you have to do is move them from the box to either your garden or the pots in the box and make sure they get a good amount of water for the first week or so.
How can you tell when your plants need water? Poke your finger into the soil. If it feels dry 2 inches below the surface, give them a little drink.
Ryan, our Resident Plant Whisperer, has a pro tip to make sure you get the most out of your herbal tea plants:
“Make sure you prune your plants back regularly. This stops them from flowering and losing some of their flavour, but also makes them grow bushy and plentiful.”
(Although, ignore this advice for lavender. You want that one to flower! 🙂 )
Growing Your Own Herbal Tea: Step 3
Once your plants are growing nicely, you can snip off a few leaves and brew your first herbal tea.
We’ve added a few of our favourite recipes below, but the basic process is the same for all of them. Pick some leaves from your plants, steep them in hot water and enjoy.
And our Plantables tea bottles make it even easier. Just add the leaves to the bottle, cover with hot water and wait, then sip. Perfect for making your herbal tea just before the school run!
Our favourite herbal tea recipes:
The Plan-tea-bles Peppermint Tea
This is an office favourite!
You’ll need:
2 cups of water
10 peppermint leaves
4-5 Stevia leaves (if you prefer it sweeter)
If you like, you can also add:
Ice
Lemon slices
Lemon juice
Then all you need to do is steep the peppermint and stevia leaves for 3 to 5 minutes in boiling water, depending on how pepperminty you want your peppermint tea to be. (That sentence is rather fun to say aloud.)
Then, once it’s brewed,, add a slice or two of lemon (or a good squeeze of lemon juice) to taste, sit back, sip it and relax.
It’s so, so good!
Lavender Mint Tea
A classic herbal tea, made the Plantables way.
You’ll need:
1/4 Cup Fresh Lavender Flowers
1 Cup Fresh Mint Leaves
4 Cups Water
Place lavender petals and mint leaves into a saucepan, pour water over lavender and mint, and bring to a boil.
Turn heat down to low and simmer your tea until the flavor is at your desired strength. (This usually takes around 15 to 20 minutes.)
Strain out mint and lavender petals and serve tea hot. If you prefer ice tea on a warm day, let strained tea cool for a while and then serve over ice.
