Green Tea Blends – Create Your Own
You don’t need to buy expensive green tea blends. You can stock your pantry with a basic green tea and flavor it to suit your mood. Try one of these flavor combinations or make your own!
Each recipe that follows is for one 12 ounce cup of green tea. All can be used hot or iced. When making iced tea, reduce the water to 6 ounces and pour the hot tea over 6 ounces of ice.
Each recipe is designed to first flavor the water, then steep the tea. This allows more flavor to be drawn out of the spices, herbs and flowers while not over-steeping the tea. Allowing green tea to steep for too long will result in a bitter and grassy cup of tea. Listed below are the recommended flavor additions. Choose your favorite and add to 12 ounces of boiling water. Allow to steep for 5 minutes. Reheat the water to about 180 degrees F. Add 1 1/2 teaspoons of loose green tea, steep for no longer than 3 minutes, strain and enjoy.
Ginger
Slightly spicy and refreshing, this tea is perfect iced or hot. Use 1 teaspoon of freshly grated ginger or 1/4 teaspoon of dried ground ginger per 12 ounce cup.
Minty Fresh
This tea reminds me of springtime. I always anxiously wait for the mint to be ready so I can enjoy a cup. Take 8 large fresh mint leaves per 12 ounce cup. Try growing different types of mint; they all make great tea.
Lemon Rose
Rose and lemon combine beautifully with the mellow green tea. This one is good hot but extraordinary iced. Use 2 teaspoons of dried rose petals and the juice and zest of a quarter of a lemon per 12 ounce cup.
Sage
Sage makes an excellent tea all by itself, but I like it even more added to green tea. Use 1 tablespoon of dried crumbled sage or 8 fresh leaves per 12 ounce cup.
Winter Spice
The perfect warming tea for cold winter days. Use 1 cardamom pod, 1 star anise pod, 1/4 teaspoon of freshly grated ginger and 1/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon per 12 ounce cup.
Morning Zest
This zesty tea will wake you up and help you start your day! Use 4 fresh mint leaves, the juice and zest of a quarter of a lemon and 1 teaspoon of freshly grated ginger per 12 ounce cup.
Tea Thyme
Thyme has a herbaceous, woodsy flavor. There are many variations of thyme, check out your local farmer’s market or grow your own. Use 1 teaspoon of fresh thyme leaves (lemon thyme is my favorite) per 12 ounce cup.
Play around with different herbs, flowers and spices and come up with a blend that’s all your own. Get creative and have fun!
The Author:
Heather Krasovec — I love all things related to food! I have worked in the retail food industry, the restaurant industry and as a personal chef. I am now focused on food as it relates to health. I believe food should be prepared at home from scratch whenever possible. No one can achieve good health on a diet of mass-produced pre-packaged, processed foods. It is my goal to teach people how to eat well and to prepare food for maximum nutrition with minimal effort.
Photo. Ray Piedra
