Summer Sunset Herbal Tea: A T&C Recipe

A personal favorite herbal tea recipe of mine is set to come back into rotation soon at T&C! A summertime tea that's perfect iced or hot, and makes a great naturally sweet tea. Here at T&C we produce about 4 or 5 flavors every year in small batches, since everything is either grown on the .75 acre property or sourced from local farmers for things we don't have planted. This flavor features citrus-y orange, delightful strawberries, and so much more. Let's talk about it.

Pursuing Herbal Tea Recipes That Tastes & Feels Good

Owner/Founder of T&C

Hi there, if we haven't met yet my name is Bailey, I am the founder and creator behind Treats & Chill. In an effort to create a multi-faceted business that suits the sweet tooth in people while also pursuing healthier alternatives in our lives, herbal teas became a major focus of mine.

Teas are a great way to make a beverage that tastes great while also having it be great for your health. This summer flavor does a great job of accomplishing both.

If you're interested in my Early Spring Tea recipe, I will link that post at the bottom of this article.

What's In It?

This flavor consists of five ingredients. Here we try to keep our recipes as simple as possible. If you are looking to make your own version of this tea here is what you'll need:

• Lemon Balm

• Stevia (Leaves, not sweetener)

• Elderflowers

• Strawberries & their leaves

• Orange Peel

You can make this with fresh or dried ingredients. With the natural tartness of strawberries, the tang of citrus, and the sweetness of elderflower and stevia, this makes a fantastic summer sweet tea. Feel free to adjust the levels of ingredients to suit your needs.

Benefits

Now the fun bit. Let's break down the benefits each ingredient brings to the table in this beverage recipe.

Lemon Balm Benefits

Lemon Balm is the base of this herbal tea, with a comforting light flavor. At T&C we always use Lemon Balm, Mint, or Sage as our bases because they are great flavors to build different profiles off of.

This light note is a bit of a superherb, with natural chemicals that help decrease Anxiety and symptoms of Depression while improving overall mood. With similar effects than Chamomile without the floral taste, this is a great substitute.

For the ladies this is a great herb to keep in mind when struggling with insomnia or painful period cramps. While it soothes the stomach and muscles it also decreases the severity of cramps.

Stevia Benefits

Stevia leaves are a great natural sweetener. Usually you can find starts of these at just about every garden center to add to your own tea garden or window sill plant line-up.

I wouldn't recommend using the sweetener version in large amounts when brewing this kind of tea. The sweetener is usually mixed with various preservatives, like erythriol, that can be bad for our health in the long run.

However, the plant itself comes with many benefits. The sugary compounds that give us that nice sweet flavor, also form a compound that convinces us we're fuller.

This small plant also improves our overall dental health and has anti-cancer properties!

Elderflower Benefits

Did you know you don't necessarily need the berries to receive the benefits of elder? The flowers are just as useful! And harvesting them is a little less stressful.

The flowers give off a very subtle sweet flavor that almost tastes like honey rather than a very floral taste. Which is shocking considering it improves our blood sugar levels and even helps treat Gingivitis.

Anyone who is struggling with lymphatic drainage could find that elderflower teas can help improve that drainage over time.

Also, if you're looking for the same immunity boosting properties that elderberry has, yes the flowers are just as strong in building our immune systems over time.

Strawberry Benefits

Now we get to the fun flavors in this recipe. Strawberries are incredibly versatile and helpful in building our wellness over time.

Remember to get these organically, without any of the pesticides in them. Farmer's markets are great options to acquire them or even the organic section in a grocery store. A little bit goes a long way with tea. I freeze dry or dehydrate mine to make the strawberries last longer, because it really only takes maybe half a strawberry per cup of tea.

The benefits of this fruit are amazing though, so I would understand if you loaded up on this ingredient.

With things like helping to prevent cancer, protecting our heart health, and improving the look of our skin? I should be putting strawberries in everything...

Orange Benefits

Finally, our cherry on top for this tea. I use dehydrated Orange Peels, but you can use fresh, whole, whatever floats your boat. Remember to keep the rind in as that has the most nutritious benefits.

This helps boost our immune system with a shot of vitamin C. Potassium and Fiber also help our gut health and by improving our gut health it also improves our ability to absorb iron! Such a great little citrus.

Unless you absolutely LOVE oranges I would only put a small amount into this recipe. Even when dehydrated the orange peel can easily overpower the strawberry and elderflower in the recipe. So beware of that fact.

Feel free to take this recipe and make it your own! Add more strawberry to make it a pink drink, or more orange and lemon to make it a citrus sunrise for the summer. Feel free to share your thoughts and experiences on social media and tag T&C, links to our Instagram and our Facebook are linked. Happy Tea Brewing!