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Hey there everybody and welcome back. In this episode, we are going to be taking a look at a rather unique herbal tea blend that I think has a very interesting flavor.
Thyme and anise tea have 2 ingredients that you would not normally associate with one another and it’s not until you combine them that you begin to see the real potential of this herbal tea blend.
What Is Thyme and Anise Tea? Anise and thyme tea is made by steeping aniseed and thyme in near-boiling water for around 5 to 10 minutes. It creates a flavorful and unique herbal tea that you probably won’t find in a store.
Let’s dig into more detail and take a look at the individual flavors that make up this herbal infusion as well as how to make a great cup of thyme aniseed tea.
Looking for more great herbal tea blends? Then check out the Art Of Tea, they are crafting some of the most flavorful and unique teas you can imagine.
How To Make Anise Thyme Tea
Anise and thyme tea is pretty straightforward. When making a 2 ingredient herbal blend the balance is really the most important thing and for this herbal tea, I think that 50/50 works the best to get the most flavor out of the thyme and anise seed.
One thing I want to mention is that Anise seed and star anise are two different herbs. Star anise is shaped like a brown star while anise seed look more like fennel seeds or caraway seeds.
DIY Anise Thyme Tea
- A teaspoon of aniseed
- A teaspoon of thyme (fresh or dried or bagged)
- 8-10 oz of spring water or filtered tap water
- Heat the water to around 205°F/96°C
Steep the thyme and aniseed in the hot water for about 10 minutes or to your personal taste. Steep covered and I like to use an infuser for this blend, but that is a personal choice.
You can use tea bags to make a cup of this tea, but keep in mind that one bag is designed for about 10 oz of water so you will want to double the amount of water or your tea will be extra strong.
There are a few places where you can pick up aniseed teabags and Thyme leaf teabags. I personally use Buddha Teas Organic Thyme Leaf Tea Bags.
As for the aniseed I always use loose-leaf seeds for that part of the herbal blend. You can buy them in bulk or in smaller quantities at most grocery stores.
What Does Anise And Thyme Tea Taste Like?
Anise seed and thyme Are not two flavors that you typically associate with one another. They are both very distinct in their own ways and make an interesting herbal blend when you put them together.
The flavors not going to be for everybody especially for people who don’t like that licorice flavor that the Anise brings to the table. But for many people, the mildly sweet licorice is going to be a very nice compliment to the Savory grassy flavor of the thyme.
So let’s start with the Anise seed flavor. As mentioned it has a very mild licorice flavor and a natural sweetness to it but it is also incredibly smooth. There’s very little bitterness or earthiness to anise which means that it helps to counteract some of the earthiness of the time that does pop up at the end of a sip.
I think this is really where the end nice makes its biggest mark. By smoothing out the overall Taste Of The herbal infusion it makes it more palatable to the Drinker, especially if that tea drinker is new to herbal tea and herbal tea Blends in particular.
The thyme Brings its grassy Savory flavor to the herbal tea. By itself, the flavor of thyme tea is quite pungent and a little bit earthy and bitter especially in terms of its aftertaste.
This could be a little bit off-putting for novice tea drinkers as they might not expect the grassy flavor to turn a little bit bitter and earthy at the end of a sip And into the aftertaste.
With the Anise seed blend, you don’t really have to worry about that bitterness of the aftertaste because the natural sweetness and smooth licorice flavor really help to alleviate any of that lingering earthy flavor.
One last thing I will add about the flavor is that anise is very similar to the flavor profile to fennel seed so you could conceivably replace the anise seed with fennel seed and come out with a very similar flavor profile that you get to Anise and thyme tea. The reason I bring this up is that fennel seed is a little bit easier to find than anise in most grocery stores.
The Aroma Of Anise Thyme Tea
The thyme is the dominant aroma when making this cup of tea, in my opinion. There is a slight licorice smell from the anise but the savory grassy aroma of the thyme is what you will probably notice the most.
The Anise And Thyme Tea Finish
That brings us to the end of our look at this particular herbal blend. These are the types of herbal teas that I really enjoy trying out.
On the surface, they don’t seem like they would mesh well, the grassy thyme mixed with the mild licorice flavor of the anise. But they end up surprising you with their overall flavor.
This type of herbal blend is not going to be for everyone. The grassy thyme can be a little too pungent if you are not expecting it and if you don’t like licorice flavor then anise is not going to be high on your list of herbal teas.
Still, when you put them together you get something wholly new and interesting and worth trying. Whether you enjoy it or not is another matter but give it a try and see how you like it.
Never be afraid to try new blends or flavors. some of them will be ok, some will be great, and some will be undrinkable but you will never know until you try them for yourself.
Looking for other great herbal infusion options, then check out Buddha Teas’ amazing selection of herbal teas.
Thank you for stopping by and, as always have a wonderful day.