Detoxifying Mint Tea Recipe
A homemade blend of detoxifying mint tea - green tasting from mint and coriander, and fennel-sweet. It has layered peppery-ness from black peppercorn and freshly muddled ginger. I've been brewing this quite a bit lately, and took it in a thermos on our drive to Big Sur.
Blending your own herbal tea is a revelation. Once you start, it's hard to go back to tea bags. This way, you're able to shape your blends to be as simple or complex as you like. You control the flavor profile and ingredients entirely, it's great. I liken it to making your own soup versus buying canned soup, and tend to bounce around from one blend to another. For a stretch it was this turmeric tea, lately it has been this detox-y ginger mint blend. The tea is green-tasting from mint and coriander, and fennel-sweet. The layered peppery-ness comes from black peppercorns and freshly muddled ginger, and with all sorts of beneficial goodness in it - lemon, cumin, the fresh ginger - it just feels good going down. You can pre-blend the dry ingredients and keep the in a small jar on the counter, making it easy to brew a cup. This pot made the drive to Big Sur with me. I poured it in a thermos, slipped it in my weekend bag, and sipped my way down the coast where we did some Christmas hiking (and surprise whale watching!).
I leave a little note on the jar, so I know at a glance how much of the dry mixture to use. It also makes it easy if I want to brew a double batch.
We did a beautiful hike the day before Christmas. This one. It's roughly a 9-mile loop that starts as a rambling coastal lullaby. Then up, up, up to an overlook bench where you can stop for a scenic lunch. It's quite a ways up. Then a leisurely descent. If you look at that photo of Wayne up above there is a spec of a tree on the ridge behind him (up and to the right of his binoculars). I think the bench is under that tree. The white trails from the airplanes high above were like daytime shooting stars.
We felt lucky to be able to visit Big Sur last week. There was a terrible fire that I'm sure many of you saw on the news, and we were very sad to come across so many people who've lost their homes and livelihood throughout such a small, tight knit community.
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Detoxifying Mint Tea
You can brew this as weak or strong as you like, really. I also like it chilled. I rarely sweeten tea, but can imagine a bit of honey would be nice if you prefer a sweet tea.
Dry mixture:
4 teaspoons coriander seeds
4 teaspoons fennel seeds
1 1/2 teaspoons whole cumin seeds
2 teaspoons black peppercornsFresh ingredients:
- 3 ginger slices, 1/4-inch thick
- 16 fresh mint leaves
- 3 thin slices of lemon
Combine the coriander seeds, fennel seeds, cumin, and black peppercorns in a jar, stir well, and set aside.
Bring two cups of water to a simmer. While the water is heating, pound the ginger with the mint to break it up a bit. I use a mortar and pestle, but you can use a wooden spoon or cocktail muddler. When the water is hot, stir in 1 tablespoon of the dry mixture and the ginger-mint mixture. Simmer for 3-5 minutes, remove from heat, cover, and allow to steep for another 3 minutes or so. Place the lemon slices in a strainer, and strain the tea through the lemon into a pot or container.
Makes 2 cups of tea, with enough of the dry tea blend for another 3 pots or so.
Prep time: 3 minutes - Cook time: 5 minutes
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Comments
A very useful tea at tthis time of the year, after all the rich food. And a good idea to take on a hike too.
Oh wow this recipe has really inspired me! I don't know why I never thought of brewing my own tea. I've got all sorts of ideas I can't wait to try now. Thanks for sharing!
Beautiful writing and beautiful website. Inspiring in a wonderful, peaceful way. Go Heidi!
I have all the ingredients, so will have to try this tea. It sounds delicious!
Wow, sounds like a great get away. Thanks for sharing and perking up my lunch time.
Just to make sure - you're using ground cumin, not cumin seeds, right?! Preparing the dry ingredients now and have to get some fresh mint! This mixture sounds great!
HS: Hi Christiane! I use whole seeds - will update the recipe to clarify.
Heidi, what a great tea - this is such an ayurvedic blend - these same spices can be put together in a churna/powder form and taken after meals to directly burn up toxins. We call it 'ama (toxin) buster.' I would love to invite you to join my Ayurvedic Cleanse course for free - email me if you're interested - or interested to learn more. As always LOVE the recipes and your beautiful blog.
The combination of flavours in this tea sounds fantastic. Question though - could I use dried mint? Our plant hasn't resisted this weather. Also, stunning pictures. And sun! In December! Hard for my brain to process.
Hi, Happy Holidays and thanks for sharing ! In the recipe you just say cumin, do you mean cumin seeds or ground cumin? I hate to assume. :)
This sounds wonderful! Did you use cumin seeds or ground cumin? I wasn't certain. Thanks!
I will have to try the homemade mint tea! I love mint tea. As to Big Sur...I was there in October. I lived in the area a lifetime ago and miss it so much. It is always a treat to look at the beautiful scenery!
Your tumeric tea helped me through the post-Thanksgiving flu. Here's hoping this will help me tackle the post-Christmas head cold. Cheers.
HS: Fingers crossed Jamie! Get well soon.
This sounds great! I regularly brew a simple lemon-ginger tea with half a lemon's juice and some fresh ginger slices.
Those photos are beautiful! But that view is breathtaking! I've always wanted to brew my own tea. Actually, I've always wanted to try a lot of your recipes. I think I'll begin with this! xo Eesh | The Other Side of Paradise
I would never have thought to put either coriander seeds or peppercorns in mint tea - but I bet that it gives it a real kick. Do they overpower the mint?
HS: Hi Skye - you can taste the peppercorns (and the coriander), but the fresh ginger comes through stronger...I think it's nice! xo
Love making my own tea blends too..never tried straining it through a slice of lemon, great idea! Sounds like a bright, warming blend, perfect for this time of year.
I've been brewing my own tea, too, with spices at home! I'm intrigued by the use of coriander and cumin here... I'll give that a go sometime.
I definitely need to make that tea! Thanks for recipe! Fantastic pics!
Blending tea is something I always want to do but never take the time to, so I'm thinking 2014 is going to see me change habits on that. Your pictures I could gaze at all day, as usual... Have a great New Year!
Fantastic hike! I have never tried to blend my own tea so this would absolutely try!
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