Tea Time

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!

I gave it a good stir and covered it with a plate to let it steep for about 10 minutes.

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.

Serving Lemon Balm Tea

A year or two ago I ordered some vegetable seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. They frequently will send you a packet or two of free seeds with your order.  I always think this is a neat deal as it gives you the opportunity to grow something that you might not have ever planted.  Such is the case with the free package of Lemon Balm seeds that I got.  This year I planted them right next to a terra cotta pot of oregano on the back porch. The lemon balm is thriving.

Lemon balm is aptly named.  If you brush by the plant, it gives off a nice lemony fragrance.  If you look at the leaves, it might remind you of mint, and that's no coincidence for lemon balm is in the mint family.

So other than smelling lemon balm, what are other uses of it?  I read that you can add chopped lemon balm leaves at the very end of cooking either chicken or fish and it complements the dish well.  I also read (and I'm gonna try this because it sounds so good!) that you can soften butter and mix in 2 Tablespoons of minced lemon balm leaves and a little honey and then spread it on warm, homemade bread.

Today, though, I decided that I would make my wife and daughter a cup of lemon balm tea.  To do this, I cut a small bunch of lemon balm leaves and stems, washed them and put them in the bottom of a tea pot.  Then I boiled water and poured it over the lemon balm leaves and let it steep for 15 minutes.  At the end of the allotted time, I took the top off and inhaled deeply.  It smells real nice.

I poured the freshly-steeped lemon balm tea into teacups and brought them to my wife.

She really enjoyed it and said it was nice and relaxing.  I took a sip, too.  It seems like this would also be refreshing by serving it cold as iced tea.  We have a couple of months of summer left, so I'll try this for sure.  Lemon Balm tea.  Soothing and delicious.