Everyday Herbal Tea for the Whole Family

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Everyday Herbal Tea for the Whole Family
« on: June 22, 2007, 02:25:04 PM » by CarlyB

I am looking for an everyday herbal tea that we can all drink. We are doing away with all soda so will be drinking only water and herbal tea (some juice also). Please help with something safe and healthy for everyone. Thanks!!

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Re: Everyday Herbal Tea for the Whole Family
« Reply #1 on: June 22, 2007, 05:36:27 PM » by natural

I enjoy Republic of Tea teas like Botswana Blossom and another almond cream one. Their Red Tea is great because it has many of the attributes of green tea but is caffine-free making this a family friendly tea.

Here is a site that offers it
http://search.store.yahoo.com/cgi-bin/nsearch?query=red+tea&first=10&only=0&categ=all&catalog=yhst-34946187506477

Health food store carry it too. You could add fruit juice to it to sweeten or xylitol sweetner, or amybe honey if you like it.

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Re: Everyday Herbal Tea for the Whole Family
« Reply #2 on: June 22, 2007, 05:47:01 PM » by Gigi

Quote from: CarlyB on June 22, 2007, 02:25:04 PM

We drink lots of herbal tea. I make it regularly and keep it in the fridge. If it is cold and ready, my family will drink it!

I make Mama's Red Raspberry Brew from the BulkHerbStore. I make it both hot and cold. I follow the directions from SC in the following post:

http://www.welltellme.com/discuss/index.php/topic,1165.msg8706.html#msg8706

And I make lots of hot Dr. Cinnamon Tea (also from the BulkHerbStore.)

It takes some adjustment to enjoy healthy teas above soda, but if you do not buy soda and have these available, they will drink it eventually!

I have not tried this one, but others have said that the Bilberry leaf (BulkHerbStore) makes good iced tea as well.

HTH

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Re: Everyday Herbal Tea for the Whole Family
« Reply #3 on: June 22, 2007, 08:03:41 PM » by skelliott2

Oh, we LOVE herb tea, especially iced on a hot day. Our favorites? Hmm, we love just about everything in the sampler boxes by bigelow. We love perfect peach, peppermint, even fruit and almond is good. Just make a big pot by pouring boiling water over two teabags first thing in the morning, and let it steep. It's ready to pour over ice and have later in the morning or for lunch. It's also a lot better with some liquid stevia stirred in. Another great drink is iced water with lemon squeezed in and some stevia. It's a totally natural, yummy lemonade! This is also good frozen into ice cubes and blended in the blender or shaved. It makes a yummy lemon slush! Enjoy!

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Re: Everyday Herbal Tea for the Whole Family
« Reply #4 on: June 23, 2007, 11:33:10 AM » by ladyhen

We have several herbs that we like to keep for iced tea but we predominately drink rooibos herb tea. It has tremendous healthful properties, is safe to give to every member of the family, and tastes wonderful iced, hot, mixed with juice or milk, sweetened or not. It can be purchased in bulk from a good hfs.
Sometimes we will make a blend of rooibos with mint, chamomile, red raspberry leaf, or red clover blossoms.
It is a woody herb, so the recommended brewing method is decoction. Put the herb into boiling water, reduce to simmer, and simmer for 20 minutes to obtain the maximum benefit of the herb.
Rooibos' health benefits are discussed conservatively on www.herbs2000.com
There are many other claims made for this herb.

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Re: Everyday Herbal Tea for the Whole Family
« Reply #5 on: June 23, 2007, 08:29:06 PM » by CarlyB

Thanks for all the replies....do any of you let it steep over night?

We drink a lot of tea from the local Tea shop but they are all Black Tea with blueberry or Peach apricot, but they are all black tea. They just don't have the benefits of herbal tea. Sad

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Re: Everyday Herbal Tea for the Whole Family
« Reply #6 on: June 23, 2007, 09:20:22 PM » by ladyhen

Quote from: CarlyB on June 23, 2007, 08:29:06 PM

Thanks for all the replies....do any of you let it steep over night?

What do you mean about letting it steep overnight?
I normally strain and refrigerate our teas once they are cool enough.

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Re: Everyday Herbal Tea for the Whole Family
« Reply #7 on: June 24, 2007, 06:03:34 PM » by CarlyB

I read on one of the other topics that some people steep their tea over night to get all the good stuff in the tea.

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Re: Everyday Herbal Tea for the Whole Family
« Reply #8 on: June 24, 2007, 09:07:34 PM » by skelliott2

We steep our teas overnight when we want the herbal effects: for example--mama's red raspberry brew. That helps the tea to get all the minerals and vitamins in it.

When we're making tea just for taste, like peach tea from bigelow, we steep 3-10 minutes and take out the tea bags.

So, steeping time really just depends on the herb tea's purpose -- healing or just a good drink.

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Re: Everyday Herbal Tea for the Whole Family
« Reply #9 on: June 24, 2007, 11:30:49 PM » by Melie

I don't know how old your kids are but I found a great way to get my daughter to start drinking tea. She's 3 years old. Many nights my husband and 5 year old son are out working on the property until it is dark out. So my daughter and I clean up the house after dinner. It is our treat to have tea together in a clean quiet house before bed. We usually drink Chammomile. She asks me every single day if we can have tea tonight! She absolutely loves it. Oh, and I just started using a cute little tea set with her that I forgot we had, that makes it even better. Some nights I set out tea and cookies for when my husband and son get in from working so now tea is special to my 5 yo boy too. (Of course, he also wants to use the "cute" tea set but my husband wants nothing to do with that! Wink

)

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Re: Everyday Herbal Tea for the Whole Family
« Reply #10 on: June 25, 2007, 11:06:37 AM » by 16goingon17

We used to make sun tea almost everyday with almost any kind of tea. To make sun tea we would throw a few teabags into an approx. two-gallon jar. Fill it with water and leave it out in the sun for several hours. Once it's steeped enough bring it inside, sweeten with honey and put ice in it, then serve it for supper

. We especially liked rooibos (red tea) this way. By the way, thanks, blessed213, for the website!

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Re: Everyday Herbal Tea for the Whole Family
« Reply #11 on: June 25, 2007, 06:38:59 PM » by CarlyB

I just started researching the Rooibos tea and I am very excited to buy some. I have been looking for alternatives to black tea, my husband started having kidney stones so we have to avoid black tea. I think the sun tea thing is a great idea....I remember my mother making it that way.

skelliott2: My daughter has a cute little tea set also!!! Her only complaint is the pot doesn't hold enough tea.

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Re: Everyday Herbal Tea for the Whole Family
« Reply #12 on: June 25, 2007, 07:43:15 PM » by Kati*did

Quote from: CarlyB on June 25, 2007, 06:38:59 PM

I just started researching the Rooibos tea and I am very excited to buy some.

I love Rooibos tea. We have a few different loose/bulk Rooibos teas we got in Poland. My favorite is from Celestial Seasonings, though -- Madagascar Vanilla. So Good.

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Re: Everyday Herbal Tea for the Whole Family
« Reply #13 on: June 25, 2007, 07:51:51 PM » by Nickole

Quote from: Kati*did on June 25, 2007, 07:43:15 PM

Quote from: CarlyB on June 25, 2007, 06:38:59 PM

I just started researching the Rooibos tea and I am very excited to buy some.

I love Rooibos tea. We have a few different loose/bulk Rooibos teas we got in Poland. My favorite is from Celestial Seasonings, though -- Madagascar Vanilla. So Good.

Rooibus also makes kombucha that is out of this world!

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Re: Everyday Herbal Tea for the Whole Family
« Reply #14 on: June 25, 2007, 08:08:53 PM » by healthyinOhio

Quote from: Kati*did on June 25, 2007, 07:43:15 PM

My favorite is from Celestial Seasonings, though -- Madagascar Vanilla. So Good.

This is our family favorite, too! Wink

It is great with a little cream added. Well, for those that drink cream.

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Re: Everyday Herbal Tea for the Whole Family
« Reply #15 on: June 25, 2007, 08:34:17 PM » by homesteadmommy

Have you ever read the ABC Herbal by Steve Horne. In there he has a children's composition recipe for a tea blend. What I did was go to the Health Food Store and mixed together a lot of herbs with medicinal value - oregon grape, oat straw, nettle, alfalfa, elderberry, red raspberry etc. etc. and then 3 times that amount of spearmint and sprinkled some orange peel in. I add a cinammon stick when I brew it. In the winter time we drink this as a cold tea every evening for supper and then hot whenever we feel like it. We have a 4 yr. old, 3 yr. old and 10 month old. The last 2 winters since I started doing this have been some of the healthiest winters we experience without having to dole out lots of multi vitamins.

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Re: Everyday Herbal Tea for the Whole Family
« Reply #16 on: June 25, 2007, 11:54:59 PM » by ShannaC

Yum! That sounds good. I think I'll try this. Thanks for the idea!
Shanna

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Re: Everyday Herbal Tea for the Whole Family
« Reply #17 on: June 26, 2007, 01:49:14 PM » by CarlyB

That is a great idea to keep the kids healthy. I will have to write those down and take the list with me next time.

Oh I seen celestial seasonings - Madagascar Vanilla today at Wal-mart...I should have bought it.

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Re: Everyday Herbal Tea for the Whole Family
« Reply #18 on: June 26, 2007, 01:59:23 PM » by homesteadmommy

Here is my tea recipe - but it is very easy to adapt. The key that I found is having plenty of peppermint and spearmint to aid the flavor.

1 part - elderberry, red raspberry, echinacea, catnip, oregon grape, red clover, chamomile,

1/2 part - (some of these herbs are more bitter tasting) yarrow, oat straw, alfalfa, nettles, horsetail, licorice,

little sprinkle of dandelion (it is very bitter I have found) and orange peel

3 parts - of peppermint or spearmint

steep with a cinammon stick and enjoy!

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Re: Everyday Herbal Tea for the Whole Family
« Reply #19 on: July 03, 2007, 02:52:41 PM » by LavenderMom

Herbal teas are a staple in my home. Children seem to prefer teas that contain peppermint. One of my favorites is peppermint & chamomile.
In the summer I make herbal sunshine infusions and serve them iced. Herbal teas are very nice with the addition of fresh lemon juice and honey.
I wrote an article about serving herbal teas to children. It is posted on my site at www.fromfieldsandgardens.com on the Food For Thought page.

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Re: Everyday Herbal Tea for the Whole Family
« Reply #20 on: October 17, 2007, 05:27:23 PM » by firecattx

I am interested in any teas (hot or cold) that would be beneficial for my whole family (adults down to 1 year old) to drink on a daily basis. It has to taste good or the little ones won't touch it:-) We consume mostly water but I would like to replace apple juice with something healthier. Any ideas would be appreciated! Also, it cannot have any caffeine in it. Thanks!

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Re: Everyday Herbal Tea for the Whole Family
« Reply #21 on: October 17, 2007, 05:36:54 PM » by ladyhen

I highly recommend our family's favorite beverage, African rooibos. It is a healthful and pleasant tasting tea. We have been big fans of rooibos for over 20 years!

We like it hot or iced, with or without milk and honey. It also can be used with fruit juices.

http://www.herbs2000.com/herbs/herbs_rooibos.htm

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Re: Everyday Herbal Tea for the Whole Family
« Reply #22 on: October 17, 2007, 05:39:15 PM » by Kitty

We really like the Peach Honeybush Apricot from Celestial Seasonings...

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Re: Everyday Herbal Tea for the Whole Family
« Reply #23 on: October 18, 2007, 12:37:02 AM » by jessicah

we like red raspberry brew recipe from bulkherbstore, with a few bags of red raspberry tea added (just any retail brand- we get one from walmart)

Also, chamomile makes a good tea- my kids like it a lot.

hibiscus flowers can be added to any tea to make it tangy - i like adding lemon and hibiscus to teas sometimes for zing.

I dont remember the names but www.morethanalive.com had some tea mixes and I think more than one was for everyday drinking.

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Re: Everyday Herbal Tea for the Whole Family
« Reply #24 on: October 18, 2007, 07:24:31 AM » by freshisbest

Tried Yerba Mate for the first time this weekend. Delicious! I bought a
Mate Lemon by Numi..Yerba Mate+Lemon Myrtle+Chun Mee Green Tea in a box of 10 tea bags. I had it instead of coffee ( since I went without coffee all weekend while visiting relatives) this morning. I also have a box of Mate Latte concentrate that I add milk to and heat. Read up on Yerba Mate..its a great alternative to coffee if you are trying to eliminate that. Yerba Mate " is pleasantly stimulating, evokes a cheerful mental lucidity" and is full of antioxidants.

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Re: Everyday Herbal Tea for the Whole Family
« Reply #25 on: October 18, 2007, 07:41:55 AM » by Nickole

Quote from: freshisbest on October 18, 2007, 07:24:31 AM

I would not recommend Mate for children though. It does have caffeine. So maybe for mom and dad, but not the whole family.

We drink it too - my husband has pretty much replaced his morning coffee with it.

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Re: Everyday Herbal Tea for the Whole Family
« Reply #26 on: April 02, 2008, 08:00:22 PM » by here-n-there-a-little

There are several suggestions on this thread, but I haven't seen one that jumps out at me as 'we should try this'! Here's the dilemma: my husband is a chronic soda drinker, but WANTS to get off of them. He will not go to water and HATES the mama's brew even when sweetened up quite a bit. The other factor is it has to be CHEAP. The rooibos looked interesting until I saw the price. Doesn't look like an everyday cold tea, at least price-wise. We love grape or cran-grape juice (even diluted a little), but because of price that has to go too. Any other suggestions out there? I wish we could just used good old fashioned iced tea... but, well, we know that really isn't all that great for us Sad

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Re: Everyday Herbal Tea for the Whole Family
« Reply #27 on: April 02, 2008, 08:09:20 PM » by ladyhen

Here's a couple of things that we did when we were getting off of the soda habit.

We made our own, homemade sodas. We used frozen, concentrated fruit juices and put a spoonful (to taste) in a glass and poured cold club soda over them. REALLY refreshing and satisfied that craving for something carbonated. At first, we were making them pretty strong, but gradually decreased the amount of juice concentrate.

The Rooibos tea is expensive to buy in boxes of teabags. We drink this all the time, it is our favorite iced tea. We buy it in bulk, by the pound. I am able to buy it from Frontier Herb Coop, but google rooibos tea and you will find several other sources. It is grown in South Africa, so some of the sources are African. Really good stuff and is good for you.

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Re: Everyday Herbal Tea for the Whole Family
« Reply #28 on: April 03, 2008, 08:02:46 AM » by Kitty

Quote from: ladyhen on April 02, 2008, 08:09:20 PM

Oooh, thanks ladyhen! Kiss

I need to get off slamming juice WHEN it's in the house. Roll Eyes

It also reminds me of a recipe we just stumbled across in "Pretend Soup and Other Real Recipes" (for preschoolers and up):

Homemade Lemon-Lime Soda Pop
2 T lemon juice
1 T lime juice
1/4 c. + 2 T apple juice concentrate, thawed
3 ice cubes
1 c. soda water

Combine everything in a glass and stir.
Add more ice, if desired and drink w/ a straw (or slurp from a spoon Tongue

)

YIELD: 1 serving

Other juices (bottled, fresh, frozen) are supposedly good, too--grapefruit, raspberry, guava, orange-pineapple are listed.

We're making it tomorrow to celebrate the end of the school week! Grin

« Last Edit: April 03, 2008, 08:09:51 AM by Yooper »
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Re: Everyday Herbal Tea for the Whole Family
« Reply #29 on: April 03, 2008, 08:31:26 AM » by healthybratt

Quote from: here-n-there-a-little on April 02, 2008, 08:00:22 PM

Make kombucha. Once I got this started, I managed to cut hubby's consumption of pop down to weekends only or when he buys one on the way to work. He used to drink at least a case a week (sometimes more) by himself. I didn't have to force it. He likes the fizz in the kombucha and it seems to keep him happy to do without the pop most days.

Kombucha: Recipes & General Instructions

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