Herbal Tea For Anxious Times
Blend your own calming caffeine-free infusion.
Are you craving a herbal tea that you can sip on at work, to help you stay grounded and chill?
Making your own healing tea from scratch is a great way to kickstart your herbal medicine journey. You get to explore the medicinal properties of each herb, and how to combine them together into an effective formula.
Creating your own tea blend is a lot simpler than you think, and it will empower you to take better care of yourself using 100% natural medicine.
As a practicing Clinical Herbalist, with several decades of experience, I am going to make this a fun and easy project for you. In this post you will learn:
1) How to choose the right herbs.
2) How to blend and store them.
3) Where to shop for good quality bulk herbs.
The art of blending.
There is both an art and a science to blending an herbal tea that actually tastes good but also has real health benefits. Too often people choose herbs based on what symptoms they want to treat, without considering the palatability of the remedy.
Its one thing to kick back a shot of bitter tasting tincture and wash it down with water. But it’s a whole other thing to sip on a tea that makes you want to gag. It will be a very short-lived love affair.
One of the first principles of herbal medicine is that herbs only work if you take them. So with that said, a tasty tea you love to drink is of the utmost importance.
Herbal actions.
In herbal medicine, we categorize herbs according to their therapeutic actions.
Each medicinal plant has a wide spectrum of therapeutic actions that are associated with it. But typically one or two will be dominant.
An example of an herbal action is:
Carminative - a carminative herb alleviates gas, cramping and indigestion, by relaxing smooth muscle and improving motility of the digestive tract. Commonly used carminative herbs are peppermint and fennel seed.
To design a tea that soothes anxiety, and keeps you grounded and focused for the day, I would consider the following herbal actions:
Nervine
Nutritive
Aromatic
You are probably wondering what those terms mean and if they are relevant to you. Allow me to briefly explain.
Nervines.
Nervines are a group of herbs that primarily exert their affect on the nervous system. They take the edge off of stress, while easing tension and anxiety. Nervines are traditionally used help to reduce pain, alleviate muscle tension, and promote relaxation and a restful sleep.
Here are some examples of nervine herbs that taste great in a tea:
Chamomile
Lavender
Lemon Balm
Lemon Verbena
Linden
Green Oat Seed
Passionflower
Rose
Nutritives.
Nutritives are herbs that provide the body with a rich supply of vitamins and minerals. They are used in herbal medicine to build strength and resilience through better nutrition. They have a grounding effect on mood, and fortify the nervous system with calming minerals like calcium and magnesium.
Here are some examples of nutritive herbs that work well in a tea:
Alfalfa
Chickweed
Horsetail
Nettle
Oat Straw
Raspberry Leaf
Red Clover
Violet
Aromatics.
Aromatic herbs are naturally fragrant due to their abundant volatile oil content. In the garden, their rich scent attracts pollinators, while at the same detracts pests. The vast majority of kitchen herbs and spices fall into this category due to their generous aroma and flavour. Aromatics have a relaxing effect on the smooth muscle of the lungs and digestive tract, and promote circulation and energy flow.
Here are some examples of tea-friendly aromatic herbs:
Anise
Cinnamon
Fennel
Ginger
Hyssop
Lemongrass
Peppermint
Spearmint
Making your blend.
The best way to approach tea blending, is the same way you approach spice blending for a traditional culinary dish. A truly delicious, authentic curry or gumbo will have a complex and well-rounded flavour profile.
For this reason, the commercial teas that we tend to love and buy, will on average contain 7-10 different herbs. For a beginner, thats a bit overwhelming. So I will recommend a starting base of four herbs that you can build upon.
A great baseline recipe for a calming, daytime tea would be equal parts:
Green Oat Seeds
Lemon Verbena
Nettle
Spearmint
To add an extra kick, you could include 1/4 part of Rose or Lemongrass. Both will add complexity to the flavour profile, and also contribute to the calming effect of the tea.
So why did I choose these four herbs as a blend base?
The formula.
Why Nettle?
Think of nettle as a herbal multivitamin. The leaves contain a rich supply of minerals like calcium and magnesium, which support healthy nerve and muscle function. The best way to describe the feeling that nettles provides is grounded and supported. Nettle is my go-to resilience herb for stressful times.
Why Green Oat Seed?
The green oat seed, also referred to as milky oat, is harvested early while it is still immature and green. Like nettle it is a nutrient dense herb packed with grounding minerals. But it is also an effective nervine trophorestorative, which helps to rebuild and restore a run-down nervous system.
Why Lemon Verbena?
Lemon verbena is a delightful aromatic nervine, which has an uplifting citrus flavour profile. This is coupled with a calming effect, that takes the edge off of an anxious or restless mood. It relaxes without sedating, making it a perfect daytime nervine to reduce stress but stay on task. Lemon verbena combines cheerful and chill, and also makes for a great tasting tea.
Why Spearmint?
I think of spearmint as peppermints softer cousin. With a lower menthol profile, it provides that minty freshness without dominating the taste of the tea. It is a lovely aromatic herb that stimulates the senses, moves energy, and unwinds tension. It works well with lemon verbena to promote digestive ease, and brighten up the earthy effects of nettle and green oats.
Putting it all together.
Sourcing your herbs:
There is a quality pyramid when it comes to sourcing herbs for your tea. At the top of the pyramid are farm to pantry herb growers, as they will have the highest level of potency and freshness.
The second best choice is to purchase from a company that specializes in herbal medicine. They will have a vested interest in providing customers with reliable, good quality products.
Here are examples of Canadian-based herb farms:
Here are examples of quality online suppliers:
Storing your herbs:
Once herbs are harvested and dried, they start losing potency and vitality. The best way to store your herbs is away from light, in a sealed container or bag. This will prolong the life and viability of your bulk herb supply.
Preparing your tea:
There is a distinction between a beverage tea and a therapeutic tea and that is potency.
In herbal medicine, we use 2 rounded teaspoons of herb to 1 cup of water, which is more than double that of a standard teabag. We also infuse the tea for a longer period of time, to increase the medicinal effects.
When making a blend from leaves, flowers, and seed you will pour boiled water over your herbs, cover, and then allow to steep for 15-30 minutes.
For a herbal blend that contains relaxing nervines, a shorter steep time might work better for daytime use. While a longer steep time, is more suited to night time use.
