Yummy Summer Tea for Allergies

Summer Tea for Allergy Sufferers:

Nettle Leaves
Ginger Root
Spearmint Leaves
Lemon Peel

What is one of the most well-known herbs for allergies? Nettles. And actually nettles tea IS NOT BAD AT ALL on it's own. It tasts like a light, less bitter green tea. And it's a really wicked color green, (chlorophyll green) if you let it steep long enough. Yesterday I gave it to my roomie, and I drank some myself, and it was pretty good. We both gave it a big thumbs up. Its light, crisp and tangy. For an herb tea, its mild and pleasant. Upon drinking it, I felt my nasal passages open up quite quickly. I was giving it to him for his dry cough, of which the source is unknown and his guess is some sort of allergy. But it was really clearing up my nasal congestion and that's a good thing, no matter what.
Because I like to shake things up a bit, I decided to do a variation on the nettles tonight, since he asked me if I could make him something that he can drink every day for his allergy/cough, and I try to do what I can to give back. So tonight, I decided to throw some other things in with the nettles, things that I was in the mood for, and that I thought would make a more pleasant tasting, or at least more interesting, well rounded tea. I added ginger root, Spearmint leaves & Lemon Peel. The ginger added quite a zing that put my roomie into a momentary shock at first sip, the spearmint is exceptionally cooling and just yummy. Also great for sinus and any kind of congestion really, and the lemon peel adds the vitamin C and a zesty lemon flavor to the mix. People love their tea with a lemon wedge.. well this lemon is thrown into the mix. And it's all natural. And medicinal.
Brought it up to roomie and he made a comment that was the greatest thing that I could hear, which is, "I could drink this every day". He followed that with, I usually hate tea, how do you make it so that it tastes good? That is my "aha" moment. I said the same thing myself when I first learned how to make tea the right way. It was this huge epiphany, and I had said the very same thing about how I hated tea as well. Because, well, it's boring. And besides that it doesn't taste very good, or at least like anything special. Plus, I just don't like hot drinks for the most-part. I have a history of drinking iced coffee in the harshest of winter climates. That's just my thing. And tea... I just had no patience. Plus, it just basically bored me half to death.
So... HERB TEA. Well, first, you have to use fresh herbs. Or rather, dried herbs that are on the "fresher side". Meaning, no tea bags. Go get the bulk stuff from the store, and if it's organic.. well even better. Not because it's in style, but because anything organic tastes 1000 times better. It's just true. I don't advocate the insanely high prices of organic anything, because that SUCKS. but if you can get it organic, and not go broke, I would always recommend it because there is a very real difference, and the more you understand what organic means and what makes a product organic, the more you will understand the very real difference between organic and conventional. Its basically about chemicals. And no matter what you might think, that organic is all "hype" or any sort of thought such as that (because I was once one of those cynics), organic just means natural, the way that untampered food and plants come when people don't come along and add all sorts of chemicals. Chemicals to make them grow faster, bigger, higher, in conditions that aren't meant to suit that particular food, to make them abnormally large, wierd colors, pesticides.. you name it. Growing food and plants is not an easy task. A lot of things can go wrong. And for every thing that can go wrong, there is a chemical to counter-act that. Not only that, but when you are mass producing food, it is temping to tamper with it to create bigger, stronger crops that are resistant to all sorts of problems that can ensue. However, the cost of this, is chemicals that cause all sorts of diseases in our bodies. Plus, it makes the food & herbs taste like crap. What you are tasting is chemicals, or wax or artificial coloring. Yes, its gross. When you eat an organic orange, for example, you will find out what an orange really tastes like. I kid you not. It happened to me. I was converted. Anyway, my point here is, many of the teas you have had in your lifetime, I am sure, have not been organic ones. That is just one of the problems. Loose teas are the best. You have to add just the right ratio of herbs to water, and you have to follow directions.
There are several ways to make tea. But you have to do it right. The two most common ways to make herb teas (aside from the traditional steeping a tea bag approach) are infusions and decoctions. Learning how to use these two methods effectively are the difference between those who drink tea sometimes and are not too impressed, and those who drink a tea I made (which happens often) and say... "wow, this is REALLY GOOD". And that's all kinds of teas I have made for different people for different effects, but I almost always get that reaction. PLUS, I usually don't use ANY SWEETENER of any kind. So to get that sort of reaction, well, I can only say, you really have to know how to do it right. And I am happy to say, that I am one of those people, now. I will get into how to make infusions & decoctions and what my answer was to my roommate when he asked me, "but how does someone make these teas for themselves... when they don't know how to do all of that infusion and decoction stuff... or which bulk herbs to buy or where... Of course, not everyone is going to want to run to the local herb store and buy bulk herbs and then measure them out & then cook them on the stove and/or let them infuse for several hours. Because, well, not everybody has the time or inclination. I'll use myself as an example,  I could, if I wanted to, learn how to sew, buy my own materials, and make my own clothes. Despite the fact that I think about how cool it would be to do that, I just can't seem to ever get around to it. So,  I let someone else do the sewing, and buy clothes that are already made. So... what about those people who want to drink tea that actually tastes good PLUS has the medicinal properties they need but don't want to spend all day long making them? Well, you go to an HERBALIST, and I come up with formulas for you, and I package them for you.. so all you have to do is heat the water and steep them according to my directions. I'm so excited to help people out! And help them to discover that TEA IS GOOD, and TEA HEALS, and DRINKING TEA CAN BE ENJOYABLE. You might even look forward to it!