Most herbal tea is brewed badly, and then blamed for tasting of nothing. Three small changes make the difference.
Use enough
A heaped teaspoon, about two grams, for each cup. Flowers are light: a spoon of chamomile weighs half what a spoon of black tea does.
Not quite boiling
Let the kettle settle for a minute. Water at a rolling boil bruises petals and leaves the tea bitter.
Put a lid on it
The flavour of most herbs is in their oils, and oils rise with the steam. Cover the cup or the pot for five minutes and they stay in your tea instead of the kitchen.
If your kitchen smells wonderful and your tea tastes of nothing, the lid is the answer.
Then wait
Five minutes for flowers, seven for roots and berries. Then drink it as it is, or with a spoon of honey from the hives behind the shop.
