How nettle tea can be made right at home
Nettle tea has been utilized for thousands of years to remedy respiratory and skin conditions, and also relieve joint aches and arthritis. Even if you’re in tip-top physical health, a mug of nettle tea can manage your hormones, soothing the mind, as well as provide a boost of all-important minerals and vitamins. What makes this simple tea even more amazing? You can simply make it in your home!
Obviously, the first step in making your own homemade pot of nettle tea is being capable of identify a nettle plant. If you do not what a nettle plant looks like, a simple internet search can provide lots of visual aids. When Mother Nature is involved, always make sure you understand exactly what you might be dealing with. A number of plants look quite similar but one might be good for you whilst the other might be very toxic. When in doubt, ask a professional before ingesting anything.
Once you know what you are searching for, any woods, thickets or maybe the side of the highway are ideal places to get the nettle plant. It grows like a weed, because, well, it really is one! The most critical rule of nettle plant harvesting is to make sure you use gloves and long sleeves as well as use scissors, reducing your contact with the leaves as far as possible. Nettle leaves are protected with nearly invisible hair-like stingers that leave a nasty rash on the skin. Also, be sure to pick your nettle leaves from areas not sprayed with herbicides or are in contact with other chemicals (like car exhaust right beside a busy street).
When choosing your nettle leaves pick newer plants (around spring time) and trim off the bright green tips to take home (the leaves get bitterer with age). The nettle leaves should be washed to remove all dirt and insects and then they might either be dried out for future pots of tea or used straight away fresh. To dry the nettle leaves, layer them over a paper towel and let them air dry. They may then be saved in an airtight container for future use.
There are various recipes available on-line about how to make the best pot of nettle tea; however, they’re subjective as people could use different quantities of nettle leaves depending on how bitter they like their own tea. A common recipe is usually to take a tablespoon of dried nettles and to steep it in very hot water a minimum of ten minutes. The leaves must be brewed for the full ten minutes in order to deactivate the stingers. If not, you won’t die, but you could easily get a mild stomach ache or ‘tingling’ sensation when drinking the tea (which you might get anyway, if you have a sensitive system but this ought to disappear because your body forms a tolerance to the tea). The leaves may then be drained and the tea safely enjoyed.
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If you would like for more of a power punch from your nettle leaves, you can create a nettle infusion, that is basically a nettle tea that has brewed for a longer period. A suggested recipe would be to take one ounce of nettle leaves and one quart of boiling water and then to allow them to soak for, at the minimum, several hours, or overnight inside the fridge. Be certain to continue to refrigerate the infusion in order that it will not go bad (in case it does, it makes a wonderful fertilizer for the garden). The infusion may be reheated to enjoy as an extra strong tea or served over ice or added to fruit juice for a cold, tasty refreshment.
If you want the health advantages of a pot of nettle tea, but cannot manage the flavour, adding lemon, honey or just sugar will make your cup of tea much more enjoyable for you. Additionally, other herbs and plant leaves could be blended along with the nettle leaves to create your personal custom super tea! A popular addition for all those being affected by indigestion is rosemary, which is great for the discharge of bile to help you process fats. Red raspberry leaves combined with nettle leaves can create an amazing tonic for an pregnant woman, as both assist with alleviate excessive bleeding after childbirth. Check out some marvelous combos of your own!