Saturday, July 09, 2011

Recipes: Bee Balm Sun Tea


A fine jar of Bee Balm Tea in front of our Bee Balm patch. Bee Balm is in the mint family and has a sweet minty flavor. Bee Balm blossoms are also a lovely addition to salads.

It's summer, and at our house, we drink sun tea. Lots and lots of sun tea. The problem is that after a few glasses, my caffeine intolerance kicks in and I can have no more. Additionally, the girls love tea, but I am not really all that enthusiastic about hopping them up with chemical energy all day. So we invented Bee Balm Sun Tea. It is very easy to make, and quite delicious.

Bee Balm Sun Tea
5-7 Bee Balm Blossoms
A handful of Fresh Basil
A Handful of Fresh Mint
2-3T Dried Hibiscus flowers and rosehips (optional to enhance the pink color)

In a CLEAN (scrubbed with hot soapy water) clear glass jar, fill about two to three inches from the top with water. Add all ingredients (if using hibiscus and rosehips place these in a tea ball or t-sac). Place the jar in direct sunlight for 3-4 hours. Remove the ingredients and chill.

An alternate brewing method which yields a less strong tea is to cold brew the tea in the fridge for 24 hours.

The tea is great on ice with or without a touch of honey.

Note: for those of you with weak or compromised immune systems, the cold brew method is probably the safest, as sun brewed tea can sometimes promote the growth of bacteria.

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