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Author:
Franco Salzillo
Tea is, by definition, an infusion of a specific plant, camellia Sinensis. This Asian shrub has been the source of tea for millennia, and it’s now a global phenomenon.
We love tea because tea leaves are not only tasty but healthy. That doesn’t mean the tea plant is the only bush we can use to infuse water. There are many other delicious and often healthy plant alternatives at our disposal.
Today we’re making rosemary tea, and although the recipe is pretty straightforward – just steeping rosemary leaves in hot water – you might be interested in why rosemary tea is good for you. It is!
Rosemary tea has been a thing for at least two thousand years. It has fallen out of fashion, but rosemary leaves are still widespread, especially in the kitchen, so we can still make ourselves a cup of rosemary tea whenever we want to.
Rosemary is packed with antioxidants. Natural molecules that bind with scavenging free radicals floating in our bloodstream. Free radicals are responsible for oxidative stress, inflammation and many other disorders.
Consuming rosemary tea might help you lower your blood sugar levels. Most important, the fragrant herb is great for the brain. It can boost your memory and improve your mood!
Here’s a tip: Always use three times more fresh herbs than dried herbs. Dried leaves are much more concentrated, so you need to use more fresh leaves for the same effect. Fresh leaves are also milder in flavor.
Now that we’ve covered the essentials about rosemary, here’s how to tweak rosemary tea.
Rosemary tea has a unique taste; it’s fragrant, earthy and herbal. A lovely way of elevating those flavors is with a splash of lemon juice. A slight acidity goes a long way. You can also throw in an orange wedge to give the tea a summery, citrus feel.
I sweeten my rosemary tea with honey, but you can use regular sugar or a zero-calorie sweetener; that’s up to you.
Steeping rosemary tea along with a regular green tea bag is a fun way of mixing and matching tea flavors. You get the benefits of traditional tea and rosemary in a single cup, and the taste is much more familiar.
Finally, nothing stops you from adding some creamer or milk to rosemary tea for a richer mouthfeel. It’s actually delicious. Plant-based milk alternatives work, too, especially almond milk and the tropical-scented coconut milk.
In a kettle, boil the water and pour it into a cup.
Fill a tea infuser with the rosemary and steep for two minutes.
Remove the infuser and sweeten the tea to taste (I use one tablespoon).
