Making Tea: How To Know You’re Doing it Right

Teas are the very most popular way to take herbs in most other cultures of the world, but the herbal tea habit hasn't completely caught on here yet, especially where I live in the coffee drenched Northwest. Its popularity is growing, though. In the traditional cultures that were the origins of natural medicine, teas, broths and soups are a daily part of life. That's why Yogi has been educating people about herbal healing tea for over 30 years, and encouraging us to drink healthy tea every day. Not to mention that all 60 of our Yogi teas taste delicious...there's no reason why your daily dose of tea shouldn't taste good, too.

Tea is the form of choice if the herbs are mild; it is also usually the least expensive way to get in an herb. Some advantages of tea use:
• The entire herb is usually used
• No binders, additives or alcohol
• Inexpensive
• Easily swallowed (especially when the flavors are balanced and taste great)
• Convenient for high doses

Teas prepared in tea bags are for conveniently preparing infusions. With our Yogi teas, the herbs in the tea bag have been specifically selected for this format, and are chopped to a very particular size to maximize rapid extraction into the water, allowing for the fullest healing dose.

To get the most out of a tea in a tea bag, put the tea bag in your cup and add 6-8 ounces of boiling water. Let the tea bag steep for up to 10 minutes, depending on your taste.

For green tea, limit the steeping to 3 minutes. The actives come out quickly, and most everyone agrees that the taste is, shall we say, not improved by longer steeping (green tea can get bitter if steeped too long).

Be sure to squeeze out the tea bag after it's steeped-there're a lot of goodies in there!

Teas suitable to be brewed mildly (beverage strength), such as the Yogi selection of teas, you can drink up to 4 to 10 cups a day for adults, depending.

I'm not sure if I've said this before but I'm more than happy to answer any questions you have about teas, specific herbs, preparations etc. Just ask in the comments and I'll respond! What's on your mind?