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Flavoring Nettle Tea

Nettle tea can be flavored in a variety of ways, from adding other aromatic herbs and fruits to using natural sweeteners. Many people enjoy plain nettle tea or only the most basic additions, while others have more elaborate tastes. No matter what your tastes, you can find a way to flavor nettle tea to make it enjoyable to you.

Flavoring Nettle Tea with Herbs

The possibilities are endless. You can flavor nettle tea with any of your favorite herbs. Some common herbs that work particularly well with nettles include:

  • Lemongrass
  • Spearmint
  • Peppermint
  • Oswego
  • Anise hyssop
  • Lemon verbena
  • Lemon balm
  • Lavender
  • Fennel
  • Ginger root

Simply add 1/2 to 1 tsp. of any of these herbs in dried form while making nettle tea. Add to the dried nettle leaves and steep as usual for a burst of flavor. Fresh herbs may be used as well, but should be added to the tea before consuming instead of steeping with the nettle leaves.

Flavoring Nettle Tea with Fruit

I love nettle herbal tea with a hint of citrus flavor, but other fruits may be used depending on your personal tastes. It’s best to use fruit in iced tea, as the fruit can become mushy and unappealing in hot tea. Some common fruits that taste especially good with nettle tea include:

  • Lemon
  • Orange
  • Lime
  • Apple
  • Berries

To use fruit for flavoring nettle tea, add chopped fresh fruit such as apples or berries after the tea has been iced but before being consumed. You can add the fruit and allow the mixture to steep overnight to get the most flavor. Add citrus fruits such as lemon, orange or lime to nettle tea just before consuming, but after the tea has cooled.

Frozen fruit may also be used to flavor iced nettle tea. Crush the fruit well and add to the tea at the same time you add ice. I’ve found that frozen raspberries and blackberries work very well for this.

Fruit purees are another option for flavoring nettle tea. Add a teaspoon at a time to iced tea until you reached the desired flavor. This depends on your personal taste, but I usually only need about 3 to 4 tsp. per cup of nettle tea.

Flavoring Nettle Tea with Natural Sweeteners

In my opinion, there is only one sweetener that is satisfactory for use in nettle tea – honey. Pure, organic honey works best, of course, and it adds a gentle, sweet flavor without being overpowering or destroying the integrity of the herbs. Never use processed granulated sugar. Not only is this substance detrimental for your health, it also damaged the healing properties in the nettle tea.

If you don’t have honey on hand and you absolutely must flavor your nettle tea, use a natural sweetener such as Stevia. If all else fails, use pure, organic cane sugar, although this is recommended only as a last resort.

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