Did you know that a hot kettle isn’t the only way to enjoy your favorite healing herbal tea? Cold steeping offers a simple way for you to get all the power of medicinal plants without using heat in the process. Many people are choosing ‘raw’ herbal tea to avoid the heat of water influencing the availability of various nutrients or healing elements within the herbs they use. Others just love the crisp, cool way that cold steeped herbal tea tastes. No matter what your reasons are for learning how to cold steep herbal tea, it’s definitely something worth trying – especially when the weather is hot outside!
Cold Steeping Herbal Tea
Normally, water is heated and poured over whole herbs so that it becomes infused with their healing goodness. While heat tends to produce a quicker and more intense herbal tea blend, it’s definitely not the only way! Soaking herbs the right way in cold water can create a powerful and delicious healing infusion that makes a wonderful treat on hot days, or a great addition to a raw foods diet. If you’ve never enjoyed iced or cold steeped herbal tea, I invite you to give this simple method a try!
What You’ll Need
Here’s what you need to create simple, delicious, and healing cold steeped herbal tea…
- Your whole dried or fresh herb(s) or a pre-packaged tea bag.
- A glass container with a lid – upcycle old juice or kombucha bottle for this!
- A strainer, sieve, or piece of cheesecloth if you’re using whole herbs
- A little space in your refrigerator
- Optional: fresh garnishes like peppermint leaves, citrus wedges, local honey, or cucumber slices
How To Cold Steep Herbal Tea
Follow these simple steps for the perfect cold brew every time…
Gather your items together and get ready to blend your herbs. If you aren’t using whole herbs, have your pre-packaged tea bag on hand.
For this demo I’ll be using one of my favorite cold steeped recipes – chamomile, lemongrass, peppermint, hibiscus flower, and lemon balm.
If you’re using whole herbs, give them a little crush to open them up.
The color of a cold steeped herbal tea is absolutely amazing!
Drop your herbs into your bottle or jar. If you’re using a tea bag, go ahead and lower it into the jar while making sure that the tag stays out.
Top the bottle off with cold, clean water. Fill it up as much as you can.
Cap the bottle, give it a few turns to mingle the water and herbs, then place it in the fridge.
Leave your tea steeping for 4-12 hours. You can take tastes along the way to get a feel for what’s the best length of time, but it’s very hard to get it wrong. I usually leave mine in overnight and find it perfect the next day!
Separate the herbs from the water with a strainer, sieve, or cheesecloth. Pour the liquid through the device into a measuring cup with a spout.
Pour the liquid back into the bottle. You’ll notice that the water has taken on a light coloring and a matching fragrance. This is one of the reasons why cold steeped herbal tea is so amazing!
You can no enjoy your herbal tea right from the bottle you used, or by pouring it into a glass over ice cubes. Feel free to add in a squeeze of lemon or orange, a bit of local honey, or even a few slices of cucumber to really bring the flavor to life.
Amazing Herbs For Cold Steeping
Try some of these herbs for a delicious and refreshing cold steeped brew…
Chamomile
Lemon Balm
Lemongrass
Ginger Root
Calendula Flower
Citrus Rind
Carob
Licorice Root
Herbal Tea, Cubed!
Click the image below and learn how to make delicious and beautiful herbal tea ice cubes…
Enjoy!
