How to: Make Mint Tea

Mint tea is a refreshing drink.

Mint tea is not tea but a tisane, or herbal tea. Tea is from the Camellia sinensis plant. Mint is from the Lamiaceace family and has species such as peppermint, spearmint and catnip. Mint, unlike tea, does not have caffeine, so you can enjoy the drink at night or when you want to have a relaxing beverage. You can make this tisane with sweetener or enjoy the refreshing taste of the leaves without flavoring.

Things You'll Need

• Mint cuttings or seeds
• Container for plants
• Soil
• Teapot
• Cup
• Infuser or Strainers

Instructions

1. Grow mint either in a garden or in a window box container if you live in an urban area. Choose easy-to-grow varieties like Spearmint, which is Mentha spicata, Alpine Mint Bush, or Prostanthera cuneata, and Chocolate Mint, or Mentha piperita cv if you are planting your mint in a garden. Select varieties like Bowles Mint, Apple Mint or Peppermint if you are using a container. Buy a large container because mint grows rapidly.

2. Plant your mint in well-drained soil with a pH -- the base or acidity of soil -- between 6.0 and 7.0. Grow the mint in a partially shaded garden area. Be aware that mint is a quick grower and will easily take over a garden. Cultivate mint in a container if you are concerned about the herb overtaking your other plants.

3. Harvest the mint in the springtime. Pick the tips of the new leaves and the stems before the plants flower. Leave 1/3 of the plant to grow back unless you are trying to prune the mint. Pick the herb in the morning when the herbs at their strongest, or in the evening.

4. Dry the mint in the oven by warming the oven for 20 minutes at 140 to 200 Fahrenheit. Put the herbs on a cookie tray or baking sheet and turn the oven to the warm setting for 20 to 30 minutes or until dry. Be aware of your oven settings when drying the herbs. Use a dehydrator or hang the mint in a dry, dark and warm area. Make sure that the herbs are dry and clean before you hang the mint tied together in a paper bag. Hang for two to three weeks until dry. Store the mint whole in glass jars and cut as needed.

5. Cut a rounded teaspoon of dried mint leaves into an infuser or strainer. Put the infuser into a teapot. Pour 2 to 3 cups of boiling water into the teapot. Steep the mint for 3 to 4 minutes and then take the strainer out. Discard the leaves. Let the beverage cool and drink.

Tips & Warnings

• Mix tea and mint leaves for a sweet beverage. Add sweeteners like honey or stevia, if you prefer.

• Do not grow Pennyroyal because it is an abortificant and can cause liver damage if ingested. This mint variety is particularly dangerous if a woman has an undiagnosed ectopic pregnancy that requires immediate surgery. Mint plants, for those people who are not pregnant or nursing a baby, have vitamins and minerals such as C, A, B-6, folate, iron, zinc, niacin, calcium and manganese.

References

• Garden Action: Grow Mint in Containers
• Your Cup of Tea: A Mint Tea Recipe the Whole Family Will Enjoy
• Farm Fresh Living: How to Dry Fresh Mint
• How To Garden Advice: How to Grow Mint in Your Herb Garden
• Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center: Pennyroyal
• Complete Well-Being: Mint: The Cool Herb; Sushila Sharangdhar; March 2008

Resources

• NASA: About Soil pH
• Mountain Valley Growers: Chocolate Mint
• My Cup of Tea: What Is a Tisane?
• The Longwood Herbal Task Force: Peppermint (Mentha Piperita)
• Alternative Nature Herbal Online: Spearmint: Mentha spicata
• South Texas Unit of the Herb Society of America: Mint