Tea Time

Tea Time

Do you love tea as much as I do? If yes, read on. Today I want to share with you some of my favourite all natural tea infusions.

Summer flavours

Green Tea with Lemon and Ginger

green tea 

a slice of lemon or lemon peel (just the yellow part, peeled with a vegetable peeler)

a piece of ginger, sliced

Put all the ingredients into a teapot, pour over boiling water, leave to infuse for 3-5 minutes, enjoy hot or cold.

Green Tea with Lime and Mint

green tea

a couple of slices of lime

Fresh or dried Mint leaves

Put all the ingredients into a teapot, pour over boiling water, leave to infuse for 3-5 minutes, enjoy hot or cold.

Red Raspberry Tea

a few fresh or frozen raspberries

1 heaped teaspoon of hibiscus flower petals

1 litre of cold water

Put the raspberries into a saucepan, pour 1 litre of cold water over them, bring to the boil, add 1 tsp hibiscus petals, take off the heat, leave to infuse for 3-5 minutes, strain and enjoy hot of cold.

Red Apple and Cinnamon Tea

1 heaped teaspoon hibiscus flower petals

apple peel* 

1/2 cinnamon stick

1 litre cold water

a few slices of ginger (optional)

*You can add a few slices of apple if you want, but it will give your tea some sweetness. I prefer to use apple peel as it gives just the flavour, not sweetness.
* Make sure your apples are not waxed, or wash the apples thoroughly with baking soda before peeling.

Put the apple peel, ginger (if using), and cinnamon stick into a saucepan, pour over cold water, bring to the boil, add 1 tsp hibiscus flower petals, take off the heat, leave to infuse for 3-5 minutes, strain and enjoy hot or cold. 

Winter tea

Christmas tea

Orange peel (just the orange part, peeled with vegetable peeler)

a piece of ginger, sliced

1/2 cinnamon stick

1 litre of cold water

1-2 tsp* or 2 tea bags of black tea
* depends on how strong you want your tea

Put all the ingredients except the black tea into a saucepan, pour over cold water, bring to the boil, add the black tea, take off the heat, leave to infuse for 3-5 minutes, strain and enjoy hot with a splash or milk (or without).

Ingredients

Cinnamon

Everybody knows and loves cinnamon, but very often what we buy and consume is not true cinnamon. Let me explain. Cinnamon is a common name for several tree species. One of them is Cinnamomum Verum, or Cinnamomum zeylanicum - the true cinnamon, that grows only on Sri Lanka (Ceylon); and another one is Cinnamomum Cassia, or just cassia - it is a cheaper alternative grown in Indonesia and China and it is the one that is widely available in the shops. The annoying thing is that the packaging in most cases doesn't specify the variety of cinnamon, so you have no way of knowing what exactly you are buying, but there are a few distinctions between the two that will help you make the right choice.
Firstly, let's talk about ground cinnamon. Cassia has a darker reddish-brown colour and a stronger smell and flavour, while true cinnamon is paler and has a more delicate flavour.
Secondly, if you are buying cinnamon sticks, it's very easy to differentiate between the two - cassia bark is very thick and cinnamon consists of a lot of tightly wrapped thin layers (see picture: Left - cassia, right - cinnamon).
And my final tip is always read the ingredients on the packaging and look for Cinnamomum Verum, or Cinnamomum zeylanicum. Health stores are usually the best place to find it.
Oh, and I forgot to explain why it is important to know the difference - cassia is not as safe as cinnamon, it contains some blood-thinning components (coumarin) and some toxic bioactive compounds - of course they are only damaging in high doses, so it's not a big deal, but I thought we deserve to know.

Hibiscus

Hibiscus is a tropical flowering plant, also known as rose mallow. Tea made from dried flower petals has a red colour, a tart taste and is high in vitamin C. In some countries dried hibiscus is readily available in supermarkets (hibisco flor in Portugal, karkade in Russia and Egypt), and I am sure it can be found in health stores or online.