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You’ve probably had an artichoke before. They are these delicious little thistle plants that you boil in water and then pull the leaves off of and dip them in a little bit of butter and lemon juice.
It’s an incredibly flavorful and filling vegetable and it makes one heck of an herbal tea as well. and that is what I want to focus on today. The incredibly delicious and often underappreciated artichoke tea.
What is Artichoke Tea? Artichoke tea is an herbal infusion derived from the globe artichoke, a member of the thistle family. It is primarily made by boiling parts of artichoke in water and then drinking the infusion.
If you are just looking for a convenient artichoke tea bag to try out I recommend Quiwi Foods Natural Artichoke Tea(*affiliate link), available on Amazon
Artichoke tea can be found in tea bags, loose-leaf, powders, and whole vegetables. All are viable ways to make a cup of this incredible herbal tea.
So let’s take a long look at the wonderful world of artichoke herbal tea.
Where Does Artichoke Tea Come From
The globe artichoke, or Cynara cardunculus var. scolymus(source), is a perennial thistle that is native to parts of southern Europe and northern Africa. It has a long history dating back to the ancient Greeks who used it for its traditional medicinal properties.
Italy and Spain produce the most artichokes by tonnage in the world today. Egypt, Peru, and Argentina round out the top 5 as of 2017(source). It is typically the green artichoke that is consumed in the United States.
How To Make Artichoke Tea
Artichoke tea can be prepared in a variety of ways. There are loose-leaf options, powder artichoke teas, artichoke tea bags. but the best way to make it is with a whole fresh artichoke.
No matter how you craft your artichoke tea there are some constants that need to be discussed.
Use Good Quality Water
Water is an often-overlooked aspect of making a good cup of tea. Foremost tease you want to find good bottled spring water or some filtered tap water to make your tea.
Artichoke tea is no different. If you want the best tasting artichoke tea then you want to use filter tap water or spring water.
Filter tap water makes a lot more sense here because you are typically going to be cooking artichokes in a pot and they need a lot of water.
So it doesn’t make much sense to use bottled Spring Water unless you are specifically making a single cup of artichoke tea.
You can use regular tap water but it will influence the flavor of the artichoke tea.
However, I don’t think it plays as big a part as it does with some more delicate herbal infusions, like chamomile tea or a lavender tea.
Water Temperature
A rolling boil is going to be fine for making your artichoke tea. Artichokes are hearty plants that can take the heat. It’s not delicate like a sencha green tea or a white tea so the water temperature is not much of an issue.
If you are boiling the fresh artichoke plants or pouring water over an artichoke tea bag, you can be confident that a high water temperature won’t be a problem.
Boiling water is 212°F/100°C. I like to use this handy tool for temperature conversions.
Steep Time For Artichoke Tea
Steep times are going to vary quite a bit depending on how you choose to make your artichoke tea.
Artichoke Tea Bag
If you’re using an artichoke tea bag then you want to stop for a good 5 to 10 minutes to make sure that you draw enough flavor out of the teabag to really give you a good cup of tea.
Dried Loose Leaf Artichoke Tea
If you’re using loose leaf then you’re going to want to sleep for about 10 minutes maybe a little bit longer as you definitely want to try and get as much flavor out of the dried artichokes as you can.
Fresh Artichoke Tea
The longest amount of time just make a cup of artichoke tea is going to come if you are making fresh artichoke tea with the whole artichoke.
You typically want to let an artichoke boil for maybe a half an hour or more depending on how big it is to make sure that is tender all the way through so that you can eat it.
You’re going to want to essentially steep that artichoke tea for as long as it takes to cook the artichoke. Something you simply cannot do for most herbal teas.
The good news is that artichoke tea is not bitter at all really. There may be a tiny little bit of it but it’s really not that noticeable.
No matter how long you cook the artichokes for the tea is going to remain largely the same flavor, at least in my experience.
The Amount Of Artichoke Tea
The amount of artichoke that you’re going to want to use to make your tea is going to depend again on what type of tea you’re using.
So here’s a little table of how much artichoke tea you should use for each.
- 1 Artichoke Tea Bag
- 2 Teaspoons Of Artichoke Powder
- 2 Teaspoons Of Dried Artichoke Leaves
- Whole Artichokes Boiled In Water
What Does Artichoke Tea Taste Like?
Like many herbal infusions, artichoke tea takes on many of the characteristics of the plant it is made out of and that translates into the taste.
How Does Artichoke Tea Taste? Artichoke tea has a slightly sweet vegetable or grassy flavor at the heart of this wonderful herbal infusion. There’s a slight bit of earthiness but very little bitterness to go along with it. When you put it all together you get an incredibly smooth and drinkable cup of herbal tea.
Let’s take a deeper look at teach flavor notes.
Grassy Notes In Artichoke
I think the major flavor that everyone is going to taste in artichoke tea is the grassy or vegetable flavor that makes up the base of the tea.
It tastes a little bit like the artichoke, but with more of a grassy flavor to it. It’s actually pretty tough to describe because when I think of one artichoke tea taste like it tastes kind of like an artichoke.
So if you’ve ever had an artichoke it kind of tastes like that but with a little bit more grassy flavor.
The grassy flavor is quite different from the typical grassy flavor of green tea. But There is really no other way to describe the flavor of artichoke tea.
Slightly Sweet
There’s also a slight sweetness to artichoke tea. Don’t confuse sweetness with sugary. A light natural sweetness that helps make the artichoke tea as smooth as it is.
This is certainly not a sugary flavor and if you drink a lot of sugary drinks then you might have a tough time discerning the subtle sweetness of artichoke tea or any naturally sweet tea, particularly green tea, for that matter.
With A Touch Of Earthiness
There might be the slightest touch of an earthy undertone to artichoke tea. It’s a very common flavor in most herbal tea.
But with artichoke tea it is really not pronounced and it can almost go unnoticed unless you’re looking for it when you’re drinking the tea.
I think since most artichoke teas use the stem leaves and root you tend to get a little bit more earthiness and it, but again it’s almost indiscernible.
Smooth With Very Little Bitterness
When you put it all together with the natural sweetness in the wonderful vegetable flavor along with the lack of any real bitterness in the tea you get one of the smoother herbal infusions around.
It really is a delight to drink and it’s a tea that I think anyone can appreciate even if you’re not an experienced tea drinker. There’s not that common bitterness in a lot of herbal teas that tend to put people off.
Aroma Of Artichoke Tea
The aroma of artichoke tea is pretty mild I would argue. If you ever cooked artichoke and a pot then you know that there is a nice grassy aroma but nothing really pungent or overwhelming.
If I had to describe the aroma I would say a gentle grassy or vegetable aroma.
Some Of The Benefits Of Artichoke Tea
Here are a few of the more well-known and verifiable benefits of artichoke herbal tea and the artichoke itself.
There’s not a whole lot of research on just how profound the effects of this plant can be but it has been used for centuries as a traditional medicine particularly in the Mediterranean region.
Artichoke Tea Is Loaded With Antioxidants
A Hallmark of amenities including most herbal teas is that they are loaded with antioxidants. And artichoke tea is no exception.
Antioxidants help the body maintain good cellular health and help rid the body of free radicals that can cause damage to those cells(source).
Artichokes May Benefit Your Skin
The benefits of artichoke tea for your skin may also come from the antioxidants as well as the vitamin C that is packed into this wonderful vegetable.
By the very nature of these antioxidants help protect the skin from the free radicals that are found in a lot of pollution and help protect them from some chronic diseases and the effects of oxidative stress(source) on your skin over time.
May Aid In Weight Loss
There is some anecdotal evidence that artichoke tea helps suppress your appetite. Leading to you eating less and losing weight.
I haven’t been able to find any conclusive research on it either way but I thought I would mention it here.
One aspect of artichoke tea that can help you lose weight is the fact that it doesn’t have any calories in it.
When you replace a drink that has a bunch of calories like a soda or a fruit drink with a calorie-free herbal tea like artichoke tea you are going to be in taking far fewer calories than you normally would.
The fewer calories you take in the better chance you have of losing weight because losing weight is simply putting your body into a caloric deficit.
Artichoke Tea May Aid In Digestion
Artichokes are known to help stimulate the production of bile which in turn helps your digestive system. Drinking a cup of artichoke tea after a meal will help you more efficiently digest your food(source).
Supports A Healthy Liver Function
While there is far from definitive support for artichokes and their benefits to your liver it is something that has been studied somewhat. Here is a quote from one such study.
“Both experimental and clinical effects have been verified through extensive biomedical herbal remedy research. Specifically, antioxidant, choleretic, hepatoprotective, bile-enhancing and lipid-lowering effects have been demonstrated, which corresponded with its historical use.”
Pharmacological Studies of Artichoke Leaf Extract and Their Health Benefits
So while nothing is certain in this regard, there is at least some quality evidence for this wonderful superfood and its effect on your liver function.
Side Effects Of Artichoke Tea
Artichokes have been eaten for thousands of years and are typically considered safe to eat and to drink as long as you stay with the edible types of this thistle plant.
However, some people may be allergic to artichokes or their thistle plant relatives in which case you should always check with your physician before trying a new herbal tea including an artichoke herbal tea.
other than that I could not find a whole lot of information on any major side effects from artichokes or artichoke.
It’s one of the healthiest herbal teas out there and the artichoke itself is a wonderfully healthy plant that has proven itself over eons.
Related Questions About Artichoke Tea
This is by no means a comprehensive list of every question that anyone has ever had about artichoke tea but these are some of the most common queries about this wonderful herbal infusion.
Does Artichoke Tea Contain Sugar?
Artichoke tea is naturally sugar-free. Although there is a slight natural sweetness to artichoke tea it does not have any sugar in it so you can drink it with confidence that you’re not going to be adding any sugared into your diet.
This is important if you are looking to limit your sugar intake by choice or whether you need to out of necessity. Sugar can be damaging to your overall health(source) so limiting it where ever you can is a great idea.
Does Artichoke Tea Have Any Carbs?
Like most other herbal teas, artichoke tea has no discernible carbohydrates in the herbal infusion itself. There may be trace amounts of carbohydrates in it but it is nothing to really worry about.
You need to be careful if you are using water that you cooked your artichokes in.
Because some of the plant matter will be in there and that could add some carbs if the pieces are large enough, but then your just drinking artichoke soup at that point.
How Much Artichoke Tea Per Day
There is no real hard and fast rule for how much artichoke tea you should drink on a given day.
The best course of action is to check with your physician to make sure that you can drink artichoke tea without any issues and figure out how much is right for your body type.
I typically drink one or two a day when I do drink artichoke tea. Although it is not an everyday staple in my tea drinking diet.
So I could go a couple of weeks without having a cup, then have two cups for one day and then go a couple of weeks without having another one.
Does Artichoke Tea Have Calories?
Artichoke tea is naturally calorie-free. There may be a negligible amount of calories in the tea but for all intents and purposes, it is a calorie-free beverage.
Many herbal teas are calories-free but always check especially with fruit herbal teas.
Finding beverages that are calorie-free is a great way to cut out unnecessary calories from your diet.
Water is the most natural go-to calorie-free drink but it’s nice to have some options that add a little bit of flavor especially one as sweet and delicious as artichoke tea.
Does Artichoke Tea Have Caffeine?
Artichoke tea is naturally caffeine-free. Since artichoke tea is an herbal infusion and not a true tea from the tea plant, It has no caffeine in it.
The great thing about having a caffeine-free option is that it can be drunk at any time. It’s one of the reasons why herbal teas are so frequently used right around bedtime.
Artichoke tea can be drunk any time of day without having to worry about jitters or keeping you awake or any of the other negative side effects that caffeine might bring.
It also means you don’t get some of the positive effects of caffeine like more alertness and things along those lines. So there is a bit of a trade-off.
Is Artichoke Tea Ok For Fasting?
Artichoke tea is a great option for anyone practicing intermittent fasting. as we mentioned artichoke tea has no calories in it or at least not enough to be counted.
This is the key feature of anything that you want to taking your body during a fast. It has to be calorie-free.
So along with all the other benefits that you get from artichoke tea being able to drink it during a fast and help suppress your appetite a little bit with a wonderfully flavorful tea, it’s just another highlight this fantastic herbal tea.
Is Artichoke Tea Keto Friendly?
Artichoke tea should be absolutely fine if you are practicing a keto diet. The major factor for this is that there is a negligible amount of carbohydrates in your artichoke tea.
There are low carbohydrate sides and then there are keto diets which are almost no carbohydrate diet. In general, many herbal infusions work well on keto diets, green tea is another popular option.
So it’s important that you carefully check what types of things you put in your body to make sure that they don’t have any carbs.
Fortunately, artichoke tea fits right into that category and gives you a flavorful alternative to just drinking water all the time when you’re on your ketosis diet.
Which Artichoke Tea Is Best?
While there are a few pure artichoke Leaf teas out there that you can buy pre-made most of the time you’re going to run into artichoke tea blends.
Some are good but they do take away a little bit of the flavor from the wonderful artichoke tea itself.
To me, the best artichoke tea is fresh artichoke tea.
Take some artichokes put them in boiling water and let them cook for a half-hour or however long it takes to give them tender and then just drink the water that you cook them in.
It’s not the most convenient option but I think that is the best tasting artichoke tea around.
I don’t like leaving artichoke tea in the fridge for too long. So I tend to either drink a couple of cups right when it’s warm and then dump out the rest or reheat it after a couple of hours but rarely do I let it sit overnight.
Will Artichoke Tea Keep You Awake?
This question ties into the question regarding caffeine in artichoke tea. Typically artichoke tea will not keep you awake.
It has no caffeine so you don’t have to worry about that interfering with your sleep rhythms and there’s really nothing else in there that would preclude it from being drunk right before bed.
When To Drink Artichoke Tea?
Artichoke tea can be drunk at any time of day. Because it has no caffeine you can drink it right before bed.
If you drink during the day or in the morning. Although in the morning you might want something with a little more kick and a little bit of caffeine in it just to get you going.
But there is really no hour of the day we’re a nice cup of artichoke tea wouldn’t be great.
Personally I like to drink it in the afternoon between meals. I typically don’t like to drink a lot of tea right around the time that I’m eating a meal, I tend to drink water with my food because I want to taste the food as much as possible.
Or I have a beer which is a whole other thing, anyway.
So I think a nice afternoon artichoke tea is a great time to drink it. As I mentioned before in the article I don’t drink artichoke tea every day or even every week.
But I do tend to drink a cup of tea in the mid-afternoon where that’s a nice hibiscus tea or a spicy peppermint tea or something along those lines. I do enjoy an afternoon tea.
Where To Buy Artichoke Tea Bags?
Artichoke tea bags are not the easiest thing to find with just artichoke tea. Typically you’ll see a blended with green tea or an artichoke white tea or something similar to that.
So if you’re looking for just plain artichoke tea in tea bags then I recommend Tam Chau Artichoke Teabags(*affiliate link) available on Amazon.
Where To Buy Loose Leaf Artichoke Tea?
Loose-leaf artichoke tea another one that’s a little bit difficult to find. About the best example of a dried loose leaf artichoke tea is this one. TerraVita Loose Artichoke Leaf Tea(*affiliate link) available on Amazon.
But to be honest, the best way to make loose leaf artichoke tea is to take a fresh artichoke that you can buy in the store put it in a pot of water boil it until it’s tender and edible.
Then just drink the water that you use to cook the artichoke in. That is the best cup of artichoke tea that you’re ever going to have.
The Artichoke Tea Finish
That brings us to the end of our look at artichoke tea. It’s a wonderful little herbal tea that not many people think about when the discussion turns to herbal infusions.
It’s always chamomile or hibiscus tea or whatever the newest infusion is that get talked about on some medical talk show.
But there are hundreds of great herbal teas out there and a lot of them go overlooked. Artichoke tea is definitely one of those overlooked gems.
It’s difficult to find, there’s not a lot of hype around it, and not many people drink it. but it might be one of the easiest to use to make especially if you eat a lot of artichokes.
Just think about it people have been dumping one of the best herbal teas down the drain every time you cook artichokes.
So the next time you have an artichoke don’t dump that water out, pour it into a cup and sit down and have a nice cup of delicious and healthy artichoke tea.
You might just find that it is your new favorite herbal tea.
Thank you for stopping by and have a wonderful day.
