I love the benefits of herbal teas, but don’t always feel like brewing up a batch. I have been trying to get in as much red raspberry leaf as possible the past few weeks, because I know how amazingly good for me and baby it is. Last night I decided I didn’t feel like warming up hot water to make a big batch of tea. Instead I filled a half gallon jar with about 7 cups of filtered water, added my herbs, shook it well, and left it on my counter all night. The next day, I strained off the herbs and sweetened the tea with a bit of raw honey. It was just perfect. I left it in the fridge. It was gone by dinner time. The kids love any herbal tea around here. Here are my proportions:

Raspberry Mint Tea

• 1 cup red raspberry leaf
• 1/4 cup peppermint or spearmint leaves
• 6-7 cups water
• stevia or raw honey to taste

That was it! I am now making up various teas the night before for the kids, so they will stay out of mine. I try to keep the proportions to about 1 1/2 cups of herbs to  6-7 cups water. Some of my favorite combos so far are:

•  1 part red raspberry leaf
•  quarter part hibiscus
• quarter part rose hips

or

• 3/4 part chamomile flowers
• 1/8 part lavender flower
• 1/8 part fennel seed
• 1/4 part lemongrass
• dash hibiscus
• dash orange peels

Have fun and experiment with what herbs you have on hand. I like to look up tea combinations from my favorite tea suppliers and then copy their recipes to my tastes. If you’re looking to build an herbal cabinet: grow them yourself or order from Mountain Rose Herbs, Azure, Frontier, or Starwest. I started ordering just a small $20 order here and there as I could, Eventually, you’ll build up enough of a stock that you can try many different, healthful combinations. Have fun experimenting and enjoy!