Herbal Tea Recipe

At my house we enjoy a good cup of herbal tea.  Sometimes mid-morning, as pick-me-up.  Sometimes in the afternoon, as a relax-n-enjoy. Sometimes as a won't-keep-me-up, late at night when caffeine might become a problem to good deep sleep.  Young and not so young (ahem) enjoy this tea at our house.

We have played with adding different things to our tea kettle.  

Here is our latest discovery~

trusty teapot ready for her adventure!

whole cloves

 black peppercorns

vanilla

everyone afloat and ready to meld together for some yummy herbal tea

Ginger Spice Tea

This tea warms both heart and soul we think!

ginger- we used about 4 inches of a finger of ginger, sliced

 (good for a teapot full, but feel free to use more or less to your taste).

20-30 whole cloves (yum!)

10-20 black peppercorns

1/2 of a lemon (this time all I had was lime...but usually we use a nice juicy lemon), sliced
a Tbs. of pure vanilla (can omit)

fresh cold water to fill the teapot

Directions:

Fill teapot with desired amount of water.  Slice ginger, peel if you want or not. (I peeled some, left some unpeeled as I was being lazy). Throw in your cloves and peppercorns.  Slice your lemon or lime.  Squeeze the lemon or lime into your teapot, throw in the slices.  

Turn pot up to med-high and heat until it boils.  Pour into cups through a small strainer to avoid chunks in your tea.  Add honey or sugar if desired.   Drink to your hearts content. 

This can be reheated if you don't use it all up at the first sitting.  Refrigerate if it will be longer than a few hours.  Refrigerate in a glass covered bottle, no need to fish out the ingredients, 

unless you'd like the extra work.

Great for a sore throat, great for a cold, great for a pick-me-up just about any time! 

* If you want a little caffeine boost, just add a caffeinated tea bag(s) to the pot.  Remove tea bags after it has been brought to the boil, allow 3- 5 minutes for the tea bag to steep. The rule is one tea bag per cup, with one extra thrown in for good measure ;-)