Simple, Refreshing Summer Herbal Tea Recipes

Herbal tea is a delicious and healthy way to stay cool this summer. Here are some of my favorite cooling herbal tea recipes especially for the hot summer months.

Refreshing Summer Herbal Tea Recipes

Peppermint Hibiscus Cooler

• ½ cup fresh mint leaves, finely chopped
• 1 TBS dried hibiscus flowers
• 1 tsp dried licorice root
• Honey/Agave to taste

Steep these herbs with 2 quarts of boiling water for 10-15 minutes, or place in a half gallon jar in the sun for half a day. Strain the herbs. Place ice in a pitcher and pour on the herbal tea mixture. Add honey or agave nectar to taste (but it is a good idea to taste it first, as the licorice root gives it a naturally sweet flavor). Serve over ice and garnish with fresh mint leaves.

This is one of my favorite herbal tea recipes, both for its refreshing flavor and its gorgeous red color. Peppermint is a panacea of herbal medicine, helpful for everything from digestive distress, headaches, and stress. Hibiscus is a great natural source of vitamin C and gives the tea a bit of a sour flavor and its deep red color.

Licorice root is mainly used here to naturally sweeten the tea, but is also great to relieve stress, moisten the body, and support healthy liver function.

Lavender Lemon Balm Stress Soother Lemonade

• 1 tsp dried lavender flowers
• 4 TBS dried lemon balm (or ½ cup fresh lemon balm, finely chopped)
• ¼ cup lemon juice
• ¼ cup honey/agave/sugar

Steep the dried herbs in 2 quarts of boiling water for 10-15 minutes or in a half gallon jar for half a day in the sun. Strain the herbs and mix with the lemon juice and sweetener. Pour over ice in a large pitcher, serve cold over ice.

This herbal lemonade is sure to please. With a delicious lemony taste, lemon balm is a premier herb for stress, anxiety, and is also antiviral. Lavender is soothing to the nervous system, helps relieve headaches, and relaxes the body. Great for folks suffering from anxiety, heart palpitations, tension headaches, and chronic stress.

Here Comes the Sun Tea

• 2 TBS dried peppermint (or ¼ cup fresh peppermint, chopped finely)
• 3 TBS dried holy basil (tulsi)
• 1 TBS rosehips
• 1 tsp dried ginger (or 1 TBS fresh grated ginger)
• 1 tsp dried hibiscus
• Sweeten to taste (or leave it out for extra health benefits)

Place all the herbs in a half gallon jar full of pure water in the sun for 4-6 hours. Strain the herbs and pour into a pitcher with plenty of ice. Try this one unsweetened to experience the taste and optimal effect of the herbs, or sweeten to taste.

This is a delicious and fun herbal tea to make in the sun. The rosehips and hibiscus turn it a deep magenta color, while the other herbs give it a delightfully cool, fresh taste. Peppermint is a refreshing summer staple with many health benefits.

Many people may not be familiar with Holy Basil (also called Tulsi). This awesome Ayurvedic herb from India is tasty and considered a safe, full-body tonic, nourishing the adrenals, decreasing stress, promoting healthy immune function, and supporting overall health.

Have fun this summer experimenting with the health benefits and refreshing taste of  these iced herbal tea recipes.

Get your herbs and oils at a place you can trust!

Starwest Botanicals not only utilizes their own milling and packaging operations for all organic herbs and bulk spices, they also conduct quality control testing on each and every product in their own laboratory.

With attention like that, you can be sure you will receive only the highest-quality organic herbs, dried herbs, organic spices, therapeutic essential oils and all natural products when you place an order with Starwest Botanicals.

Photo by Samet Kilic