Herbal Tea Recipes: 9 Blends with a Simple Blending Formula for Beginners

Quick Summary: Floral, citrusy, minty, or warm and spicy: once you know the base + star + accent formula, you can blend herbal teas that taste better than anything from a box. Here are 9 of my favorite blends from over a decade at my farmers market stand, plus a flavor chart and food pairings. Prep: 5 min | Steep: 5 to 10 min | Makes: 5 to 10 cups per blend

Jump to: The Base + Star + Accent Formula | 9 Herbal Tea Recipes | How to Make Herbal Tea | Holiday Gifts and Gatherings | Tea Blending Chart | Wellness Blends | FAQ

This post may contain affiliate links, and you can read our disclosure information here– 

I’ve been blending and selling herbal teas (aka tisanes) at my Minnesota farmers market stand for over a decade, and the question I get most often is: ‘How do I make herbal tea that actually tastes good?’

The secret to herbal teas that taste good and don’t have that medicinal character is blending. Mixing a mellow base with a stronger ‘star’ ingredient and a punch of accent flavor transforms forgettable herbal teas into something you’ll actually want to drink for pleasure as well as for health benefits.

This guide covers my formula, plus 9 of my favorite blend recipes, and includes food pairings

The Base + Star + Accent Formula

I’ll list some tea-blending recipes below, but in case you want to explore creating your own combinations, try following the base + star ingredient + accent formula as illustrated in the graphic below called “Blending Herbal Teas”.

Mellow Base Ingredients:

• chamomile
• (pepper)mint
• lemon balm
• linden flowers
• yerba mate
• nettle
• raspberry leaf
• holy basil
• rooibos or actual real tea.

Stronger Star Ingredients:

• Roots: licorice, chicory, dandelion, ginger
• Leaves and Flowers: elderflower, hibiscus, chocolate mint, lemon verbena

Very Strong Ingredients to Add an Accent Flavor:

• citrus peel (citrus)
• cinnamon (warm)
• rosehip (floral & tangy)
• ginger (spicy)
• cardamom (warm)
• lavender (floral)
• fennel seed (licorice)

9 Herbal Tea Recipes (+ Food Pairings)

I’ve gathered a few of my personal favorite herbal tea blend recipes here.

As a rule of thumb, you’ll want to use 1 teaspoon of tea blend for every 6-oz cup of boiling water. Steep herbal teas longer than black teas. You may need to steep up to 10 minutes to extract full flavor of those that contain bark or chips (something other than leaves).

Each blend makes roughly 5 to 10 cups of tea. For a bigger batch, swap tablespoons for teaspoons. Jump to the printable recipe card for all nine blends on one page.

Black teas go with hearty dishes, green teas go with light dishes, white teas are for very neutral foods like white fish… and herbal teas are considered to be healing teas for a number of ailments, but they tend to go particularly well with desserts.

I’ll include some food pairing suggestions with the 9 homemade herbal blends below.

1. Floral Tea (Chamomile, Rose, and Lavender)

• 2 teaspoons dried chamomile flowers (base)
• 2 teaspoons dried rose petals (star)
• 1 teaspoon dried lavender buds (accent)

Pairs well with: tart, citrus-based desserts like my faux Meyer Lemon Pie.

2. Citrus Tea (Lemon Verbena and Bee Balm)

• 3 teaspoons dried lemon verbena (base)
• 2 teaspoons dried bee balm leaves (star)
• 1 teaspoon dried lemongrass (accent)
• 1/2 teaspoon dried orange peel (accent)

Pairs well with: something sweet and fruity to balance out the tea’s tartness, like strawberry tiramisu.

3. Mint Tea with Rose Geranium

• 4 teaspoons dried mint leaves (base)
• 1 teaspoon dried rose geranium leaves (accent)

Pairs well with: chocolate, of course! Try it with chocolate espresso quick bread.

4. Herbal Iced Tea (Mint, Pineapple Sage, and Hibiscus)

• 6 teaspoons dried mint leaves (base)
• 3 teaspoons dried pineapple sage leaves (star)
• 1 teaspoon dried hibiscus flowers (accent)

Pairs well with most summer dishes. Try it with squash blossoms, radish-cream cheese appetizers, or low-carb beef sliders.

5. Sleepy Time Tea (Lemon Balm, Chamomile, and Valerian)

• 4 teaspoons dried lemon balm leaves (base)
• 2 teaspoons dried chamomile flowers (base)
• 1 teaspoon dried valerian root (star)
• 1/2 teaspoon dried lavender flower (accent)

Pairs well with: if you’re taking it to help you sleep, you may want to have this one on its own.

6. Mediterranean Tea (Mint, Rosemary, and Thyme)

• 3 teaspoons dried mint leaves (base)
• 1 teaspoon dried rosemary (star)
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme (star)
• 1/2 teaspoon dried lemon peel (accent)

Pairs well with: anything Mediterranean such as this roasted harissa chickpea snack

7. Warming Tea (Holy Basil, Ginger, and Cardamom)

• 4 teaspoons dried holy basil (base)
• 1 teaspoon dried ginger (star)
• 1 teaspoon cardamom pods, lightly crushed (star)
• 1/2 teaspoon dried lemon peel (accent)
• 1/2 cinnamon stick (accent)

Pairs well with: this Pumpkin Amaretto quick bread for a very complimentary combination.

8. Immune Booster Tea (Nettle, Echinacea, and Ginger)

• 4 teaspoons dried nettle leaf OR dried holy basil OR half-half (base)
• 1 teaspoon dried Echinacea flower (star)
• 1 teaspoon dried ginger (star)
• 1/2 teaspoon dried rosehip (accent)

9. Fresh Herbal Tea (Mint, Ginger, and Rosemary)

• 1 sprig fresh mint (base)
• 2 slices of fresh ginger root (star)
• 1 sprig of fresh rosemary (star)
• 1 slice of lemon (accent)
• Optional: 1 slice of orange

Simmer this mixture for 5 minutes on low heat and then let it sit for 5 more.

Herbal Tea Blends for Holiday Gifts and Gatherings

A jar of homemade tea blend is one of the easiest holiday gifts you can make. Mix a batch in a wide-mouth jar, add a label with the ingredients and brewing directions (1 teaspoon per 6 ounces of boiling water, steep 5 to 10 minutes), and tie a small tea strainer to the lid.

Blends keep for up to a year, so you can make them weeks ahead. The Warming Tea and Floral Tea make good gift blends because the ingredients are easy to find and they look pretty through the glass. List every ingredient on the label so friends with allergies know what’s inside.

Tea is also the easiest way I know to turn a winter afternoon into a cozy gathering. Here are some of the recipes and ideas that I gathered our family and friends together around tea last year.

• A ploughman’s lunch board with a pot of strong Builder’s Brew for a relaxed holiday lunch
• A full English breakfast for Christmas morning after gift opening
• Afternoon tea at home with easy finger food
• A tea tasting party with tea flights for friends who love tea and want to go deeper
• A cozy London fog (Earl Grey tea latte) by the fire
• Spiked cranberry apple tea for a holiday toast

If you’re in the Twin Cities, you’ll find my hand-blended teas at the St. Paul Farmers Market.

If you’re just getting started with teas and tisanes, my complete guide to teas covers everything from growing a tea garden to brewing temperatures to the difference between true teas and herbal tisanes.

How to Make Herbal Tea at Home

1. Bring fresh water to a boil.
2. Measure 1 teaspoon of dried blend for each 6-ounce cup, or about 1 tablespoon if you’re using fresh herbs.
3. Pour the water over the herbs and cover the cup or pot while it steeps. The lid keeps the aromatic oils in your tea instead of in the air.
4. Steep 5 minutes for leaves and flowers, or up to 10 minutes for roots, bark, and seeds.
5. Strain, taste, and add a little honey if you like.

Equipment for Tea Blending

Making your herbal tea blends is super easy if you have a few types of herbs on hand.

Many commercial blends contain artificial ingredients and even sweeteners. They can also be quite old and stale, or made with low-grade tea.

Going the DIY route is usually more natural (and more fun too!). All you’ll need is:

• Glass jars
• Labels
• Tea strainer
• Your herbs of choice

After mixing, you can store your blends in the jars, making sure to seal them well. Keep in a dry and dark place for up to a year; your herbal tea won’t go bad after that, but the flavors may become less intense.

You could spruce them up with a slice of fresh lemon or ginger if this happens and you don’t want to just toss them.

if your garden doesn’t yield all the herbs you like (here are the best herbs to grow for tea).

And don’t forget, although we call them herbal teas, they don’t technically only need to contain herbs. Many common whole spices, like cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, and the like are also easy enough to find, maybe even in your cupboard. The same goes for flavor bombs like citrus peel.

Flavor Profiles: Choosing Your Ingredients

There are too many herbs and spices that work for tea blending for me to even try to begin listing them all, but these are some of the more popular flavors, and my favorites:

Flavor	Herbs	Best Used As
Citrusy	Lemon balm, lemon verbena, lemongrass, lemon thyme, citrus peel	Base (lemon balm), star (lemon verbena), accent (peel)
Minty	Peppermint, spearmint, chocolate mint, bee balm, catnip	Base or star
Floral	Chamomile, rose petals, hibiscus, elderflower, lavender	Base (chamomile), star (rose, hibiscus), accent (lavender)
Warm and spiced	Ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, turmeric, fennel seed	Star or accent
Earthy	Rooibos, nettle, raspberry leaf, dandelion root, licorice root	Base (rooibos, nettle), star (roots)

Wellness Blends

Many of the herbs used in blends can have two functions. They can add flavor to your tea blends, but they can also support specific wellness issues. Here are ten detailed posts on the teas and tisanes that support certain wellness issues:

• Teas and tisanes to support sleep
• Teas and tisanes to support inflammation and joint pain
• Teas and tisanes to support energy and focus
• Teas and tisanes to support anxiety
• Teas and tisanes to support metabolic health (weight loss)
• Teas and tisanes to support autoimmune problems
• Teas and tisanes to support digestive and gut health
• Teas and tisanes to support women’s hormonal health
• Teas and tisanes to support skin health (complexion)
• Teas and tisanes to support liver health (detox)

Frequently Asked Questions: