Simple Mint Tea – From Scratch

This is idea rather than proper recipe, everyone knows how to make mint tea, right?

All you need to do is is to place couple of fresh mint stalks in the teacup, pour over some boiling hot water and let it infuse for a while, simple as that…

how to prepare mint tea from scratch without toxic teabags and honey

Having had skin problems and then being diagnosed with MI and formaldehyde allergy I started being much more aware of natural products, I started shopping for better ingredients, replaced tones of cosmetics I used to use with couple quality ones that contain no nasties.

But changing cosmetics and household products alone was not enough. I’m still getting flare ups from time to time so I started digging deeper…

We have moved from polluted London to Brighton, the fresher air definitely made the difference but not necessarily to my skin.

It turned out that synthetic clothes, bedding, pillows and finally food can be a trigger as well.

I started with things that I use the most often and during winter months I drink hectolitres of tea… mostly caffeine free red bush. But then it came to my attention that many teas are not that good for us, because of the teabags they are packed into. Once we pour hot water on them we are infusing it not only with goodness of tea but also with all those chemicals that the paper was soaked in during preparation which can be cancerous, toxic. etc. so I started looking for loose teas and fresh herbs to drink rather than bagged ones. Don’t get me wrong, not all tea in the teabags is bad, just be aware that some (even well known brands) are so do the research before buying.

If you are using honey to sweeten your tea it is great but make sure to buy it from known source, I don’t mean the store but that you know origin of the honey. Apparently there is toxic foreign honey on the market and some of the honeys stating “a blend of EC and non-EC honeys” can be contaminated.

Am I being paranoid of everything that use to be healthy seems to be poisoning us?

Do you know any other fresh herbs, except for the mint, that would be good for preparing this way? I would love to hear about them as I’m running out of options…

NOTES

And if you are looking for proper recipes calling for tea you may want to try Vanilla Buttercream & Lemon Cheese Triple Layer Cake Infused with Lemon Grass Tea I made long time ago, read about Hibiscus Tea that is very popular in Poland and Dominica, taste beautiful pink Hibiscus Cupcakes from Blue Kitchen Bakes or give a go healthy Rooibos fruit and muesli “pie” from Cooksister.

Your thoughts…

  1. I love a cup of mint tea after a meal – were you there the day at the tagine place in Knightsbridge when Michelle ordered one. I’ve often done it since then.

  2. I love mint tea. In the summer I like fresh mint from the garden in my tea, the smell is so lovely. So natural yet so delicious!

  3. Yes, Sarah, I was there, Mamounia was the name I think, and remember Michelle’s tea, but forgot about it completely until my recent visit to local coffee shop here in Brighton where they serve mint tea this way… best tea ever (!)

  4. Laura, garden mint is the best. I really miss our little back garden in London but I grow herbs now on the kitchen window instead…

  5. It’s easy to get fresh mint tea where I live. Didn’t know about tea bag chemicals – will investigate more (as I’m a 5 cups a dayer). Raw honey is best – commercial honeys are made by feeding the bees anti-biotics and sugar solution, then it’s heat treated which robs the honey of its nutrients.

  6. I love mint tea, had a nice big mug of it last night. If you’re looking for other fresh herbs I can recommend lemon balm (Melissa officinalis), it’s very refreshing especially in the summer. I’m not sure how easy it is to find in the shops though, I’ve only ever had it picked from my parents garden. The dried leaves also work quite well too and they’re easy enough to find online.

    I get what you mean about the triggers as I have skin issues too. As far as possible I only wear 100% cotton which certainly helps a lot, or I at least make sure base layer is cotton then synthetic fibre jumpers in winter. Does make me feel a bit daft checking labels when I go clothes shopping but has to be done!

  7. Thanks Jen! It is funny, I have actually Melissa on my window sill but wasn’t sure what to do with it… husband bought it by mistake thinking it was mint (the leaves look quite similar). Thanks for the tip, I will try it out as a tea.

    Also the idea of wearing cotton as a base layer does make a lot of sense, thanks. This way I don’t need to replace all of the clothes, just some :)

  8. I love fresh mint tea. Having suffered with allergies and digestive health issues for many years, I can attest to its benefits when enjoyed after a meal – it’s really soothing. Have you tried homemade chamomile tea?

  9. I must admit when it comes to tea i really drink anything but black tea but your post has convinced me to give it a go for the health benefits if anything.

  10. Lemon verbena is another hen that works well as an infusion

  11. Before I realized that mint and mint flavoring were contributing to my perioral dermatitis and my lip inflammation/cheilitis, and I then stopped using it wherever possible (avoiding it in chewing gum, baked goods, chocolate treats, ice cream, mouthwashes, etc.),

    for many years I used to drink mint tea regularly, and I loved it.

    However, later I was diagnosed with GERD
    [which is the US abbreviation for gastro-esophageal reflux disease;
    in the UK, the disease is abbreviated GORD because in British English there is an “o” at the beginning of the word “esophagus”: namely, “oesophagus”],
    and the acid reflux that I was experiencing was found to be due to a hiatal hernia —

    So while I was researching how to lessen the acid reflux of my GERD,
    I learned that mint tea has been shown to RELAX/LOOSEN the upper esophageal sphincter, which people with stomach acid reflux problems do NOT want to do, because that allows even more stomach acid to flow up from the stomach into the throat and mouth.

    It is true that mint and mint oil (taken in a tea, or in supplemental capsules) are actually beneficial for people who have irritable bowel syndrome and some other digestion issues, because it can soothe the lining of the bowel (and probably it has several other beneficial modes of action!), but mint is NOT recommended for those people who *specifically* are experiencing stomach acid splashing up into their esophagus/throat/mouth, because of the way that mint further relaxes the sphincter between the stomach and esophagus.

    ===
    By the way —
    drinking spearmint tea (it is only that particular type of mint, spearmint; not peppermint or any other type of mint) has been scientifically shown to reduce the condition of having unwanted facial hair (which is called hirsuitism) in women.
    Therefore, if a woman has more facial hair than she would like, drinking spearmint tea on a daily basis for a while is an easy and inexpensive thing for her to try out, to see if it helps.
    You can look the topic up online and see what the recommended daily dosages are (I think what was studied in a few experiments was 3 cups a day, but I don’t recall exactly).

    [Note: I think that spearmint, just as much as peppermint, relaxes the upper esophageal sphincter, so this method for reducing unwanted facial hair may not be a good thing to try if you also are experiencing GERD / GORD acid reflux.]

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