Wouldn't you know that we just finished talking about how we enjoy coffee and now we have a post on tea? As a youngster, I loved sweet tea, the sweeter the better. Lately, when I go to a restaurant, I've gotten into the habit of asking for half and half (Half sweet and half regular). Today we're making tea at home. We have lots of herbs growing: Lemon balm, mint, French sorrel, oregano, basil, fennel, rosemary. Most of those are growing in the garden or in our little raised bed herb garden back by the bees. We do have some lemon balm and mint on the back patio, though, and that's what we'll be making our tea from today.
I picked 50 lemon balm leaves...
And then picked 50 mint leaves to add to our herb harvest... The honeybees were really active over by the herbs. Their buzzing was loud, and they were all congregated on the side of the four bee boxes. I got what I needed and got out of there.
First, I washed up the leaves and then sort of rolled them up together and cut them up. I bruised the leaves themselves with the back of the knife, thinking that would release some of the oils from the leaves.
I got 8 cups of filtered water boiling on the stove.
Then I poured the hot water over the crushed lemon balm and mint. I bent my head down and smelled the steam coming off the fresh herbs. So lemony and minty!
Then I poured it through a sieve and into a pitcher and set it on the window sill while we went to Wednesday night prayer meeting.
I would assume that fresh, hot, brewed lemon balm/mint tea would be great on a cold day, but the heat index outside today is 101 degrees Fahrenheit. Hot tea just isn't in the cards, so I let the tea cool off completely and put the pitcher in the ice box. I poured a glass of lemon balm/mint tea over ice and garnished with mint leaves:
VERY refreshing on a sweltering summer day! If I had one change to make, I would make it stronger. Next time, I'll cut the water down to four cups instead of eight while using the same amount of herbs.
