Dried fruit makes an excellent addition to a tea blend! You can steep it along with your tea leaves! I made Watermelon Peppermint Tea by just steeping a few pieces of dried watermelon along with some white tea leaves and dried peppermint.
When you dehydrate watermelon, you concentrate all that sweet watermelon flavor. Since Watermelon is mostly water, it dries down pretty small, but what remains is as sweet as candy!
Adding it into tea is so easy! Just drop a few slices into your infuser along with your favorite tea. I recommend a lighter tea such as white tea, or green tea. A little peppermint adds a depth of flavor that you’ll love with the watermelon! Sweeten it with a little honey if you like sweet tea!
Here’s how to make it:
Watermelon Peppermint Tea
Ingredients:
1 T White tea leaves
1-2 tablespoons of dried watermelon pieces
1 teaspoon dried peppermint leaves
180-185◦ f water
Instructions:
Combine the tea leaves, watermelon, and peppermint leaves in a tea infuser. Place infuser in cup and pour over hot water. The water should be about 180-185 degrees Fahrenheit. You can use a thermometer if you want, but you don’t have to. Just bring the water to a full boil and allow it to cool slightly for a couple of minutes.
Allow your tea to brew for 5-10 minutes depending on how strong you like it. Don’t be afraid to dip a spoon in and taste it after 5 minutes if you’re not sure how strong you want it.
For a refreshing summer drink, add ice!!
If you try this recipe, please let me know in the comments here, or on my Susan by a Thread Facebook page! Follow me on Facebook for all my latest projects and recipes! You can view the YouTube short video of this recipe here. And while you’re there, don’t forget to subscribe to my channel!
It’s a cold wintry day, and getting colder. Winter Storm Elliot is forecasted to bring minus 50-degree wind chills to Nebraska overnight. The furnace is churning away, and with the help of a warm sweatshirt and cozy socks, it’s keeping the cold at bay for the most part. Still, what better way to take the edge off the chill, than to brew up a hot, fragrant, cup of lemony, gingery gunpowder green tea, and curl up with a good book for the afternoon?
Choosing tea ingredients
My tea blend of choice is very much dependent on my mood. I will throw in ingredients one at a time based on what seems good that day. Choosing the ingredients thoughtfully is part of the experience of tea for me. So is choosing the brewing method, and even the mug for the tea. Today I’m using a mug and tea infuser set that my son gave me for Christmas a couple of years ago. Using the mug always makes me think of him and the thoughtful way he approaches gift giving.
Whenever possible, I prefer to grow and dry my own herbs. Today’s blend of gunpowder green tea with lemon, ginger, and sage is no exception.
The actual tea leaves I buy in bulk from organic sources online. Tea is grown, harvested, and processed using specific methods, that I can’t do from home. Gunpowder green tea gets its name from the small round pellet shape that is the result of rolling the tea leaves. As the tea steeps, the little “pellets” unroll into pretty green leaves.
The lemons I purchased and dehydrated at home. The same is true for the ginger.
The sage I grew in my kitchen hydroponic garden and dehydrated the leaves for both cooking and making teas. Adding savory herbs to teas has been a game changer for me. You might not think of sage as a tea flavor, but once you try it you’ll love the depth of flavor it adds without overpowering the blend. I have also used oregano, parsley, and celery in the same way with great results. Keep an eye on this blog for those recipes!
Recipe: Gunpowder Green Tea with Lemon, Ginger, and Sage
Ingredients:
I used about a tablespoon each of:
- gunpowder green tea
- dried lemon slices (you could also use dried or fresh lemon peel if you don’t have dried slices)
- dried ginger
- dried sage
Instructions:
Add the ingredients to the infuser one at a time, taking a moment to crush the sage leaves to release the fragrance and flavors of the sage.
For green tea, you want the water temperature to be around 175 to 180 degrees Fahrenheit. I don’t obsess over the temperature much, just bring the water to a full boil, and then let it settle for a minute or two before pouring it over the blend of tea and herbs.
I like my tea on the strong side, so I let it steep up to 10 minutes, but you don’t have to go that long. Anywhere from 5-10 minutes will get you a flavorful tea to enjoy.
When you’re ready, lift the infuser and let it drain out into the mug.
I found that this tea was perfect as is and did not need to be sweetened, but you can add some honey or sugar. If you like your tea sweet, Belgian Rock Sugar is a great vegan (no animal ingredients or processes) option.
I garnished my tea with a fresh lemon slice, fresh ginger slice, and a couple of fresh sage leaves. This added a pretty touch and a fresh aromatic boost to this already fragrant tea!
A link to my video of the Gunpowder Green Tea with Lemon, Ginger, and Sage is below. Be sure to like and subscribe to my YouTube channel. If you try this tea, please leave a comment below with your thoughts!
Enjoy and stay warm!
It’s a cold morning. You’ve had your coffee, now it’s time to get to work. But there’s still a chill in the air and you need motivation to sit at that desk and get started. Let’s make a cup of tea.
Tea is a Sensory Experience
Unlike coffee, Tea is not about speeding up and starting your day with a racing heart. Tea is about centering. Tea is about focus. When you’re stressed or scattered, just the act of stopping, boiling water, putting that tea in the cup, and breathing the steam from the kettle as you fill your cup means that you’re giving your mind a brief and much needed reset.
Let it Steep
It takes 5 to 10 minutes to make a good cup of tea. Take it back to your desk and let it steep beside you while you work. If your hands are cold, hold the mug to warm them while you read emails. Lift the cup and breath in the steam. Smell the aroma of the tea as the flavor develops.
Take a Sip
You’re working, so a citrus or a mint tea will sharpen your mind and help you focus. Take a sip. Taste the complex flavors, feel the warmth of the liquid. Notice your mind letting go of the swirl of tasks and demands, and zero in on the cup in front of you. Breathe in. Breathe out.
Now Conquer the Day!
Put the cup down, it’s really too hot to drink fast anyway. Direct the mental focus you have gained onto the task at hand. Repeat as needed with another cup and rock this day!!
