Long before there were known types of tea (black and green), people used various herbal drinks (teas). A little later, the latter were replaced by new varieties of tea and coffee, but nowadays herbal teas have regained some popularity. Such preferences should not be surprising, since most people try to take care of their health and the beauty associated with it. Unlike traditional black tea, herbal infusions do not contain caffeine at all, which does not have the best effect on the human nervous system. In addition, herbal drinks have a whole "bouquet" of medicinal properties and contribute to the rejuvenation of the body.
The review brought to your attention is intended to acquaint everyone with the known types of herbal teas, and also teach them how to brew them correctly. The experience gained will allow you to prepare the drink in such a way that the healing properties contained in the herbs are not lost, and it is not only fragrant, but also pleasant.
Herbal tea is a mixture of a special composition, prepared on the basis of fresh and dried inflorescences, leaves and roots of various plants. It would be more correct to call such mixtures drinks, since the tea leaf itself is absent in them.
There are many varieties of herbal infusions that help a person fight a variety of diseases. When drinking tea, one rule should be followed - you should not drink it for a long time, which can lead to side effects. In addition, before buying herbal ingredients in a pharmacy, it is advisable to familiarize yourself not only with their composition, but also with the prescribed brewing rules. 
Therapeutic effect of herbal teas
Drinks infused with herbs have a tonic and calming effect, and also have a therapeutic effect on the human body, manifested in their remarkable anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties. The following is a list of specific drinks with a list of their beneficial qualities:
- Melissa tea. It has a good diaphoretic, as well as a special tonic effect and is used for colds and respiratory diseases.
- Mint tea. It is indispensable in the summer, as with its help it is possible to quickly quench your thirst. In addition, it is useful to all those who want to lose some weight.
- Ginger tea with or without mint. It helps to increase the tone and helps to cheer up after waking up in the morning (it is a good substitute for coffee).
- A drink infused with berries and raspberry leaves helps, if necessary, to reduce the temperature during colds and flu.
- A drink brewed from hawthorn berries will help those who suffer from insomnia. It has a calming effect on the nervous system, and also effectively reduces pressure by delivering oxygen to all cells of the body.
- A drink made from sage. It is very useful for children who have lost their appetite, and also helps people with acute forms of cystitis, gastritis or pyelonephritis.
- Tea of a complex composition, made from chamomile, dry motherwort and valerian root (both in a mixture and separately). This drink will help you cope with severe stress, improves sleep, and also removes harmful substances accumulated in excess from the human body.
- Rowan tea. It is not only a good pain reliever, but also has a good diuretic and laxative effect.
Despite the usefulness of all the drinks listed above, they are nevertheless capable of damaging human health. 
Contraindications
In order to avoid harm to the human body, you should always remember the following restrictions on taking herbal formulations:
- It is not allowed to use them uncontrollably for a long time without a special prescription from an experienced doctor. Particular attention should be paid to this moment when treating young children with herbal preparations.
- It is highly undesirable for women at the stage of pregnancy to use infusions, which include nettle, thyme or oregano.
- It is believed that mint infusion can interfere with normal conception, and also worsen the quality of sleep.
- Rowan tea is undesirable (and sometimes completely contraindicated) for stomach ulcers, for example.
- Herbal infusions from St. John's wort or licorice are not advised to be taken by men in adulthood, as they affect potency.
- Excessive consumption of herbal sweet clover infusion can lead to internal bleeding.
- Rosehip teas have a negative effect on the teeth, so in the process of drinking them, it is advised to use a straw.
- And, finally, ginseng drink is strictly contraindicated for small children (under 5 years old), as it can cause them to become overexcited.
When and by whom are herbal teas drunk?
tea time
In accordance with the age of a particular person and taking into account the current time of day, it is recommended to follow the following instructions governing the procedure for their adoption:
- In the morning, you should use only tonic herbal tea from the leaves of lemongrass, lavender, clover, as well as from strawberries or lovage, brewed either individually or in combination. In the evening, it is recommended to take the usual soothing decoctions of chamomile, lemon balm, mint, as well as infusions based on primrose or raspberry (cherry leaves also belong to the same category of herbal plants).
- In the autumn or winter periods, the so-called "multivitamin" drinks are very useful, helping to strengthen the body, weakened at these times of the year. To prepare herbal teas in this situation, you should use nettle, blackberry, wild rose, sea buckthorn, as well as currant leaves. In the summer season, it is preferable to take refreshing drinks such as anise tea, for example, or infusions based on orange blossom, sage, sweet clover or mint.
Herbal teas for babies
The smallest children at the initial stage of their development often suffer from periodic pain in the abdomen. In order to alleviate their condition and relieve these unpleasant pains, accompanied by its swelling, caring mothers prepare at home or buy ready-to-drink herbal drinks in pharmacies.
For children of this age, infusions based on fennel, chamomile and mint with healing properties are especially useful. All of the above compounds not only help relieve spasms in the baby's tummy, but also significantly improve the quality of digestion, and also normalize metabolic processes.
Important! Before taking soothing infusions, it is advisable to first consult with a pediatrician.
Herbal teas for weight loss
For people who want to get rid of their excess weight, infusions of raspberries, strawberries, lindens are recommended for use.
Note: The benefits from them are maximally manifested in the steam room.
You should drink these teas in the intervals between visits to it, as well as at the end of the whole complex of bath procedures. They have a potent perspiration action, so that excess weight will be removed along with the perspiration.
The most useful and popular herbs
The following is a list of the most well-known medicinal plants recommended for use and storage in home supplies: 
Individual components wild rose that enhance immunity and are used when inflammatory processes are detected. Infusions of them are allowed to be used not only by adults, but also by children. To make a rosehip-based drink, you need to put the collection in a thermos, and then pour half a liter of hot water into it, and then insist for a day. It is recommended to drink it warm (100 ml before meals).
Chamomile suitable for all age groups, including children, the elderly and pregnant women. Chamomile tea blocks the development of inflammation in the body, and also facilitates the removal of excess fluids from it. At the same time, it has a calming effect on the nervous system and improves the functioning of the endocrine system. You can prepare this tea like this: pour 2 tsp. dried chamomile in a clean bowl and pour them with 250 milliliters of hot water (do not forget to cover the top with a lid). After the drink has been infused for 10 minutes, it should be filtered and consumed only fresh (until it has lost its medicinal properties). 
Lime tea allows you to deal with the consequences of severe food poisoning, and also activates the processes of digestion and blood circulation. Since linden enhances the body's immunity, an infusion from it is especially effective during periods of winter epidemics and in the fight against a number of infectious diseases.
In addition, linden can be taken to relieve fever and severe headaches, as well as quickly eliminate nasal congestion. A drink from this healing agent is prepared very simply: linden flowers in the amount of 2 tbsp. spoons are poured with 250 milliliters of hot water. For the subsequent infusion of the drink for 20 minutes, it is most convenient to use a regular thermos.
Herbal teas for every day
Among the plants discussed earlier, there are herbs that are not intended for daily use, since the latter can lead to allergic abnormalities or disorders in the functioning of the nervous system. At the same time, there are a number of herbs that can be taken regularly without any fear. Tea for everyday use can be made from the following groups of components:
- Pear leaves combined with echinacea or apple.
- Finely cut pieces of lingonberry, hawthorn or viburnum fruits.
- Rose hips, lemon balm and lemongrass leaves.
- Raspberry leaves with orange peel and cinnamon.
- Rowan fruits together with linden, currant and raspberry leaves.
- Chamomile with the addition of cherry and blueberry leaves.
With so many combinations and combinations of the initial components, as a rule, there are no difficulties in choosing the right drink.
What to look for when buying herbal teas
When purchasing tea components, it is advisable to adhere to the following rules for their selection:
First of all, you need to familiarize yourself with the composition of the required product, which should not include flavoring substances.
Decide on the place of collection of this plant, indicated on the package (it must be harvested in ecologically clean areas).
Find data on the expiration date, the limit value of which usually does not exceed one year. If an expired product is purchased, the usefulness of the herbal ingredients drops sharply. You can’t buy such a composition at all, since decomposition processes can begin in it, felt by a sharp and unpleasant odor.
Well, if there is no particular trust in pharmacy fees, prepare unique tea yourself, using medicinal plants common in your area. 
Brewing rules that exclude the loss of medicinal properties
Purchasing organic and fresh herbal tea ingredients is just the first step. To realize their beneficial properties when brewing this drink, you must be guided by the following rules:
Herbal tea decoction is prepared only on pure spring or well water (tap water containing chlorine is not suitable for this).
It is forbidden to fill the collection of herbs with boiling water, which destroys part of their medicinal properties. The optimum temperature of heated water is 80–90 degrees.
The container for brewing a healthy drink should be tightly closed with a lid.
For its preparation, it is recommended to use either enameled or glass kitchenware. The use of metal containers can lead to the loss of some of its useful properties.
Before brewing medicinal tea, the dishes used are preheated (this can be done by scalding it with boiling water).
The duration of brewing fees from leaves and inflorescences is no more than 3 minutes. For plants with a rigid leaf structure, this time is about 5 minutes, and for the roots and bark of plants - 10 minutes or more. Unlike all of the listed components, the rosehip components are infused for at least 8 hours.
Fragrant and tasty herbal drinks are very popular not only among adults, but also among children of different ages. However, not everyone is able to choose and correctly brew such tea. But all those who need this remedy should remember that it often replaces drugs and is an indispensable prophylactic.
January 31, 2013 Partner of the association "Ecocluster" - shared very useful information about how to brew herbal tea. Be sure to try and enjoy the wonderful taste and aroma of organic herbal teas collected in the wild places of the Republic of Chuvashia and Mari El. In the assortment of "Ecocluster" there are 3 types of tea from "Live Herbal" -, and.
So, how to brew herbal tea…
Russian herbal tea is as simple as "three kopecks". It was not invented or invented - it was simply drunk for healing and pleasure. Having once noticed the effect of certain herbs on the body, a simple Russian, savvy man or a worldly wise woman, memorized and passed from mouth to mouth the recipes of their favorite fees for every need.
There are probably as many herbal tea recipes as there are herbs themselves. But in fact, only healers and sorceresses owned many ways of preparing medicinal preparations, while ordinary people used 2-3 familiar plants growing in the immediate vicinity of their homes for tea drinking.
Most often, Ivan-tea (narrow-leaved fireweed) was used in drinking in conjunction with honeydew (meadowsweet). The smell of honeydew is rich, slightly stupefying, so this herb goes into tea as a good fragrance.
The above tea is given here only as an example, you can safely change the recipe to suit your taste and health needs, but the rules for brewing and drinking Russian teas are the same for everyone.
Naturally, the water must be spring, clean from metal impurities and various chemicals. It used to be like that, but now you have to look for clean water. To achieve the liveliness of tea, you need to heat the water, just heat it, and not boil it. Boiling kills everything living and useful in water and plants. In addition, by definition, there is nothing harmful in spring water - there is no need to boil it.
In order for the soul of the plant to open before you with its unsurpassed aroma and integrity, it is enough, as in a Russian bath, without frills, to heat the water to 80-85 degrees. We fill our herbal collection with such a “hot spring” and let it brew for a short time, 5-10 minutes, so that the etheric compounds do not evaporate and disintegrate.
Previously, tea was brewed in linden dugouts. There, the tea aroma was supplemented and intensified by the linden spirit, and the drink itself kept its fertile warmth for a long time.
In the realities of our time, it is most appropriate to replace lime dugout with thick-walled porcelain or earthenware. Usually they brew a teaspoon of the collection in a glass of water, but this does not always give a good result, the excess of taste kills the taste. Much more appetizing tea looks and is drunk if dried sprigs of grass are brewed. Three twisted leaves of Ivan tea, a sprig of thyme or mint, a linden flower - that's the real Russian tea. And there is no need to complicate anything, remember, everything ingenious is simple!
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Nutritional ecology: Tea herbs are those herbs that taste good when brewed. The plant can use leaves, twigs, buds, flowers, and in some species - roots
As a child, I was always embarrassed why grandfather does not drink shop tea “like all people”, but always brews tea on herbs or branches. Years passed and now we ourselves “sat down” on these herbal teas, and now their smell every time reminds me of my childhood in the countryside.
Let's look at what herbs and plants are suitable for making tea and what are their benefits.
Tea herbs are those herbs that taste good when brewed. The plant can use leaves, twigs, buds, flowers, and in some species, roots.
Some plants only release their taste when the leaves are fermented, and when dried or raw, they have a pale and grassy taste, such as strawberry and strawberry leaves. Or their taste is weak without fermentation, like maple leaves.
Plants such as willow tea can be fermented, or dried top leaves and flowers can be brewed. During fermentation, the taste changes to a more saturated one, with notes of coffee and chicory. Fermented willow tea is one of the richest tea drinks in terms of taste. The brewing of oak bark or alder cones can be compared with it in terms of color density and bright taste, but this medicinal raw material is drunk not as tea, but as a remedy.
Meadowsweet has a very bright taste and aroma. However, it is so fragrant that not everyone can drink tea only from its flowers, because its taste is bright to the point of cloying even. But it is very good as an addition to other herbs, giving a honey flavor to the tea setting.
Cherry leaves are good as a separate tea and with additives. They have a sweet, slightly tart taste. But when used without the addition of other herbs, there is a slight hint of herbal flavor that not everyone likes. Therefore, cherry leaves (and sweet cherries) can be combined with oak, maple leaves.
Currant, mint, lemon balm, sage, raspberry, chamomile are the queens (and kings) of herbal teas in terms of taste, vitamins, benefits, aroma. These herbs can be drunk fresh, dried and fermented.
Of the forest plants, the main tea plants are blueberries, heather, lingonberries. From blueberries and heather, magnificent, delicate, sweet, fragrant teas are obtained. Cowberry gives tea infusion sourness. And pharmacy lingonberries are generally sour-bitter, perhaps because they are harvested together with bearberry, which is of the same family and similar properties, but gives bitterness to tea.
If you want to make the most delicious herbal healthy tea, then you need to collect it yourself. Or buy (accept as a gift) from good people who treat herbs with care, with love, as with our smaller brothers / sisters.
List of tea herbs (leaves, flowers)
1. Ivan tea (fireweed).
2. Meadowsweet (meadowsweet).
3. Currant.
4. Raspberry.
5. Blueberries.
6. Lingonberry.
7. Mint.
8. Melissa.
9. Kotovnik.
10. Lamb.
11. Linden.
12. Cherry (cherry).
13. Strawberries (strawberries).
14. Oak.
15. Maple.
16. Blackberry.
17. Rosehip.
18. Sage.
19. St. John's wort.
20. Nettle.
21. Thyme.
22. Chamomile.
The decision to use traditional medicine recipes, to prepare a decoction, infusion, herbal tea, is due to the desire to get the maximum benefit from a natural product.
We believe that the drink prepared by us has healing properties and will certainly help to recover from various ailments.
To meet our expectations, we need to know how to properly brew herbs, prepare tea, decoction or infusion. The cooking process should help preserve the beneficial components for which we appreciate the herbal collection. The immediate result of treatment depends on how correctly this is done.
For the preparation of herbal medicines, most often dry raw materials are used, which are collected in the most favorable period, properly dried and the rules for their storage are observed.
For medicinal drinks are used: plant bark, leaves, flowers, roots, stems, seeds. You need to know a few simple conditions that will help make the cooking process right:
- Before brewing herbs, they must be crushed to increase the amount of nutrients in the finished product. This can be done with a mortar (root, bark, stems) or crushed with a knife. Seeds are left in their natural form.
- If it is necessary to use a mixture of plants, each type is crushed separately, and then the necessary proportions are mixed, as recommended by the recipe.
- For the manufacture of infusions, decoctions, use only glass containers, ceramic-coated dishes with a tight lid. Do not use metal containers in order to avoid undesirable interactions of the drug solution with a metal surface, which can act destructively on the components of the collection during the brewing process.
- It is recommended to filter the finished product through several layers of gauze, or use a cotton cloth.
Herbal collection should not be stored for more than two years.
To maintain the correct proportions of multi-component mixtures of medicinal herbs, knowing the following ratios can help: one teaspoon of dry mixture = 5g, a tablespoon = 15g.
Types of herbal medicines
On the basis of medicinal herbal teas, various preparations can be obtained that differ in the concentration of useful active substances, the purpose and method of application, and the preparation method:
- Infusion.
- Decoction.
- Extract.
If the herbs are brewed correctly, the healing effect is not long in coming.
Infusion
For their preparation, those parts of the plant are used that do not require long-term preliminary preparation: inflorescences, leaves, fruits.
The classic proportion is one part of the collection to ten parts of water.
There are several simple options, how to brew herbs correctly to prepare an infusion:
- Dry raw materials must be poured with boiling water, observing the proportion, closed with a lid, let it brew.
- Cooking in a thermos is even easier: pour boiling water over the required amount of the collection overnight. The infusion is ready in the morning.
- Steaming: pour the collection of herbs, observing the proportions, with boiling water, put in a water bath and warm for 15 minutes, avoiding boiling.
- Some herbs require cooking without heating: the collection is poured with water at room temperature, infused for up to 12 hours.
After preparing a medicinal drink by any of these methods, it must be filtered and cooled. As an external agent, it is taken in concentrated form, when used internally, dilution with water may be required.
Decoction
Prepared from those components of medicinal collections that require a longer heat treatment - bark, roots, stems, rough parts of the leaves.
When preparing decoctions, dry mixtures are boiled on fire or on a steam bath for about 20 minutes, then filtered, cooled, and used for their intended purpose. For oral administration, as a rule, it is diluted with water, for external use - in its natural form.
Extract
This is a more concentrated preparation made from medicinal herbal ingredients. Prepare it on the basis of decoction and infusion.
Tea
The method of preparation of this drink from medicinal herbs is identical to the brewing of ordinary tea. About one teaspoon of herb is needed for a glass of hot water. Let it brew for 7-10 minutes, drink hot or slightly chilled.
It must be remembered that phytotherapy has indications and contraindications. Before using medicinal herbs, you should consult your doctor.
The tea ceremony is a well-known occasion to relax and have fun, even if this is done not in a restaurant, but in a cozy kitchen, having a sincere conversation with loved ones. The most popular hot drink is black tea, green tea is brewed a little less often, but they are not as safe for some categories of people as you might think. It's good that there is a great alternative: herbs instead of tea.
Our ancestors drank exclusively natural drinks, and today the fashion for a healthy lifestyle is gradually returning, so more and more people choose healthy herbs. This is easily explained: the flavonoids, essential oils, vitamins and valuable trace elements that are part of them bring great benefits to the body!
What herbs are useful to drink instead of tea: do's and don'ts
Herbal teas are more correctly called herbal drinks, since they do not contain a tea leaf or very little of it. It is a product that relieves pain, tones or warms, invigorates and stimulates or relaxes and soothes: it all depends on the composition of the plants.
Popular black and green teas, drunk in uncontrolled amounts, can harm the nervous system and even cause insomnia, which cannot be said about properly selected herbal preparations, the features of which we will discuss in our article.
Nature gives us a huge selection of medicinal plants that can be used to treat or prevent many diseases. Herbal drinks have benefits that are important to be aware of:
- are not addictive;
- made from cheap raw materials;
- do not interfere with the absorption of vitamins;
- do not cause edema;
- help to achieve a certain therapeutic effect.
If a person suffers from diseases associated with an imbalance in purine metabolism (for example, gout), then it is better to exclude classic black tea from everyday life, because it contains up to 0.1 g of harmful uric acid. And caffeine, which is part of the tea leaf, increases excitability and is not always useful for people with hypertension or cardiovascular problems. So feel free to drink herbal preparations and have fun!
However, herbal drinks have their own contraindications:
Important: if you experience abdominal pain, headache or allergic reactions, immediately stop taking herbal tea! And, of course, when choosing ingredients, do not forget about the state of your health.
Herbal teas are used not only in collections, they can be made on the basis of a specific plant: for example, from one mint, rosehip or blackcurrant leaves. But if you like a variety of flavors and aromas, then you can safely experiment by making your own recipes.
Examples of herbal mixtures:
Yes, yes, you can add your favorite spices to your herbal teas: cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, vanilla, anise, etc.
Teas for vivacity
The advantages of such drinks are that they easily replace invigorating morning coffee and help you get in shape after a sleepless night. To prepare a healing drink, take the following ingredients in equal proportions:
- raw ginger root;
- blooming Sally.
After drinking a cup of this tea, you will definitely cheer up, but do not forget that such a tone does not replace a good rest. Some .
Teas to calm the nervous system
These drinks have a relaxing effect and are great for relieving tension after a hard day at work. To prepare, take:
- valerian root;
- leaves of lemon balm and mint;
- thyme;
- motherwort;
- chamomile.
To achieve a lasting sedative effect, drink this collection daily 1 hour before bedtime (the exception is valerian, which is not recommended for a long time).
To reduce pressure
For this purpose, use tea from chokeberry, barberry, strawberry flowers and leaves, succession and knotweed.
Cleansing teas
Cleansing the body is the key to its normal functioning. Cleansing teas are used as an aid. Here are their ingredients:
- to dissolve mucus (fennel fruits, plantain and elderberry);
- to obtain a choleretic effect (dandelion root, calendula, wormwood, chamomile, immortelle, corn stigmas).
For a mild laxative effect, use buckthorn, senna, joster, and rhubarb root. To cleanse the lungs, violet and oregano are used; to remove toxins from the body - nettle, dandelion or burdock; to clean the vessels, they drink tea from white mistletoe, Japanese sophora or black currant.
miracle tea
If you have problems with excess weight, the body is slagged with toxins and salts, and the level of bad cholesterol is off scale, then this tea is for you:
- immortelle;
- chamomile;
- Birch buds;
- St. John's wort;
- strawberry roots and leaves.
The ingredients are taken in a 1:1 ratio and drunk for a long time in the form of tea without sugar.
Herbs for tea: selection and preparation
The main rule when choosing a herbal drink: all the ingredients should taste good, because we want to get tea for everyday use. This means that some useful, but bitter or tart-tasting herbs such as yarrow or tansy will have to be excluded.
Herbal tea should be perfectly infused and always freshly brewed: then all the healing substances will benefit your body. By the way, not only leaves are poured into the teapot, but also fruits, flowers and even stalks of fruit trees. Remember: there should not be many plants with strong aromas in tea, otherwise they will kill each other, and our task is to make a drink that is harmonious in taste and aroma, in which the components do not suppress each other, but complement each other.
It is better to take care of the raw materials for tea in advance and collect the plants during flowering, and then dry them well and grind them if desired. Important: the collection of plants should be carried out only on clear and dry days, preferably in ecologically clean areas.
The leaves are dried not in the sun, but in a shaded dry room, additionally dried in an oven, stored in closed jars without oxygen and extra aromas. Fruits and berries are dried first in the sun, and then in the oven on the smallest fire for 2-4 hours.
If it is not possible to independently collect herbal raw materials, feel free to buy herbs in pharmacies that sell products that have passed certification and radiological control.
Herbal drinks can be consumed by all people, regardless of age and health status. If you decide to drink such teas for the purpose of treatment or prevention, you must strictly monitor the expiration date of the collection, preventing the appearance of an atypical aroma or taste.
How to make an herbal drink
Take a set of selected herbs and chop them if they are fresh. If dry, just mix. Classic dosage for brewing: 1 heaping teaspoon per 250 ml of boiling water. Take a teapot and rinse it with boiling water, then pour herbs into it and pour hot water over it. Cover tightly with a lid, wrap in a towel and leave alone for half an hour: so much time is needed for the herbs to give all their healing properties to boiling water, and the drink turns out to be rich and tasty. Also, herbal drinks can be prepared in a water bath.
As a rule, sugar is not added to the teapot, otherwise the unfinished tea will quickly disappear, and it will not be possible to drink it cold. But your favorite jam or bite is even welcome.
Tip: If you plan to add solid ingredients (twigs, roots or bark) to the herbal drink, they must first be crushed and boiled for 10 minutes.
There's no accounting for tastes, so don't be surprised if your favorite pick doesn't appeal to guests or family. And they say “tea is a personal matter, it is not clear with whom they do not drink it”! So enjoy the shades of natural flavors, aromas and become healthier!
The site site can advise you on fragrant and healthy herbal teas in the Tea.ru online store - only natural herbs, free shipping on orders over 1000 rubles!