How to brew Herbal Tea | Steeping a perfect herbal infusion
Learn how to brew a perfect cup of herbal tea. Get cozy with a cup of freshly steeped herbal tea for your slow morning or cozy evening. Enhance your brewing experience with this step-by-step guide! Use any type of herbal tea to make your cup of tisane. Brewing herbal tea is an amazing natural lifestyle habit to add to your slow mornings.

This method goes perfectly also to brew loose-leaf tea, but notice that the temperature and the steeping time will differ depending on the type of tea. For troubleshooting when using loose-leaf tea read my article on how to avoid tea bitterness to master the perfect cup of tea brewed from tea leaves. More resources for brewing tea can be found in the Best Books on Tea and Infusions article.
Tips for steeping the perfect cup of herbal infusion
Heat the pot and mug or glass with a bit of warm water before steeping to prevent the tea water from giving off its heat to warm up the vessel.
Cover the teapot with a lid, if using a mug put a saucer on the top to keep the heat. The herbal teas are steeping longer times, so try to capture the heat as much as you can.
If you want to sip your tea for a longer time use a big mug, preferably a cylinder formed, rather than a wider teacup: the heat escapes faster when the evaporation surface is wider. I personally love to drink my morning tea from the lower, wider tea cups so I just keep pouring a bit more from the teapot to keep my tea warm when sipping.

If you are making Moroccan Mint Tea use traditional tea glasses and serve your tea piping hot! Leave the glass about a finger’s length short when pouring tea. Then you can grasp with your fingers from the top of the glass without burning your fingers like Moroccans do.
Trust me – I have burned my fingers with hot tea several times before understanding the trick.
Use the same method described in this post with any type of herb to brew your own herbal teas. The flavor of herbal teas you are making depends on the herbs you are using and the amount. If you want stronger add more, if weaker then drop the amount following your personal preference.
| RELATED: Why does my tea taste bitter? | How to avoid tea bitterness
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Tools you need to brew herbal tea
Here are some examples of the tools you can use when steeping the tea. If you do not have all the tools do not worry, get creative and use the things you have at home. If you are an avid tea drinker and heavy user then I suggest investing in good equipment.
The vessel
You will need a teapot, pot, or mug to prepare your tea in. If you are making one cup only, you might prefer to steep directly in the cup. If you are serving many use a teapot or a pot or any kind of heatproof vessel with a lid if you do not have a designated teapot.
You can use as well a French press to brew your tea in. Just heat it well with the hot water and keep the plunger in to heat that one too. The plunger is mainly made of metal, so it will steal the precious heat from your tea water if not heated before steeping. The French press is perfect to use with herbal infusions, actually better than steeping tea in it! Tea leaves need to be taken out or strained out from the water so as not to create bitter flavors. Herbs can swim and steep for longer periods and just create stronger flavor which is most of the time just a good thing.
Electric kettle or pot
An electric tea kettle is the best choice for quick heating or heating the water in a pot depending on how you desire. If you have a tea kettle you can use on the stovetop you can heat the water and steep the herbal tea in the same teapot.
| RELATED: Tea kettle vs teapot | How to choose and use them
The strainer
You want to strain the herbs to serve your tea without the bits and pieces floating in your cup. For a teapot, a tea strainer or a straining basket is ideal for the amount of herbs you are using. If you are making for one in a cup you can choose a tea ball or a tea strainer spoon. Even though I do have all of these I tend to use uniquely the tea strainer even with the cup and it works perfectly for that one too.
Cups or glasses to serve
Serve the steeped herbal tea from cups or tea glasses of your choice.

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Ingredients you need
Then you need some dried herbs or you can use one of the herbal tea blends you have. If you have leaves they release their flavors easier than roots and grains. If you are using an herbal mixture that has harder pieces you can crush them a bit with the mortar to ease the infusion.
The general rule is to use about 1-2 tsp of dried herbs for 2,5 dl (a cup / 8oz) water.

Four steps to steep your herbal tea
Get the tools and ingredients ready.
Step 1 – Boiling water
Boil the water using an electric kettle or pot on the stove. Pour some boiled water into the teapot or mug to heat it up before steeping and pouring it out. Herbal blends need a higher temperature than the tea leaves and are more open to release the bitter agents, so you can use boiling water to steeping.
Step 2 – Measuring and preparing herbs for steeping
Measure about 1-2 tsp of dried herbs for 2,5 dl (a cup / 8oz) water. You can be generous and not too strict with the measurements. If using a strainer basket, strainer ball, or spoon you can measure the herbs in it. If you do not, you can place the herbs directly into the teapot and use any kind of strainer when pouring the tea to catch any loose bits.
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If your herbal blend has roots or grains use a mortar to crush them lightly to release the flavors easier.
Pour hot water, which can be almost boiling, on the top and close with the lid or a plate.
Step 3 – Steeping
Let the herbal tea steep for at least 5-7 minutes, even 8-10 minutes or more is totally fine. Herbal teas are less fussy about the steeping time than tea leaves of the camellia sinensis tea plant which contain catechins that create a bitter taste when released into the tea water in the form of tannins.
| RELATED: Why does my tea taste bitter? | How to avoid tea bitterness
Keep the teapot covered with a lid or plate to catch the volatile essential oils that give the beautiful scent when drinking and keeping the tea warm.
Step 4 – Serving the perfect cup of tea
Taste the herbal tea if it is strong enough and serve from cups or heatproof tea glasses and enjoy!

What if I want to use fresh herbs for my herbal tea?
If you are using fresh herbs for your herbal tisanes or an individual herb bouquet you can proceed the same way but use about three times more of the fresh plant than the dried one.
Use your garden herbs and flowers such as rose hips, sage, lemon balm, lemon verbena, thyme, licorice root, and chamomile to brew your own herbal teas and herbal preparations.
If you want to dry the herbs for later use, make sure they are clean and freshly picked. I suggest following these herb dehydration guide by Melissa K Norris for the best result.
What about if I use loose-leaf tea or a tea bag for steeping?
When making tea from pure tea leaves, the method is the same but follow these instructions for steeping tea to adjust the steeping time and water temperature. For example, white teas and green teas need lower temperatures and shorter steeping times than, oolong teas, black teas, or pu-erh teas. Use my quick guide for steeping times as your helper in need.
What is your perfect moment for a cup of herbal tea?
Let me know what is the best time to enjoy your own herbal infusion. Are you a morning sipper or an evening cozy person? Tell me in the comments below or tag me with @blue.tea.tile and show me your cozy tea moment!