[Damselfly]

I make my own tea blends. Sometimes I use herbs from my garden but I also buy bulk herbs from Mountain Rose Herbs. The easiest way to start is to try different herbs separately and get to know their flavors and how they might blend with other flavors.

Tea recipes are usually measured in "parts." These are the proportions of the ingredients to one another and can be anything from a teaspoon to several cups. I often measure my blends in handfuls.

There are medicinal teas and beverage teas but I think we're mostly talking about beverage teas here, right? Of course there is some overlap between the two. Some of my favorite herbs for beverage blends are hibiscus flowers, spearmint, chrysanthemum flowers and roses. Lemon flavored herbs such as lemon verbena, lemon balm and lemongrass are very nice too.

When I'm ready to drink the tea I put about two teaspoons per cup of boiling water in a tea strainer, cover and steep about 7 minutes. Sometimes I make it up by the cup but I often make a whole tea pot if I have company over or the kids want to share too.