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How would I describe making a cup of lavender tea to someone who has never tried it? It is not complicated. Just tea and hot water right?
Then I thought about it a little bit. The things I take for granted when making a cup of tea, and tea. I know what temperature the water needs to be for most teas, how long the steep is, the right amount of tea leaf or herbal inclusion.
How To Make Lavender Tea? Add just under boiling water and a couple of teaspoons of dried lavender flowers. Steep, Covered, in 205°F water for 5 to 7 minutes. Remove flowers and add sweeteners or cream if you like.
For a great cup of lavender tea try Starwest Botanicals Organic Dried Lavender Flowers(*affiliate link), available on Amazon.
Read on to delve into the specifics of making a great cup of lavender tea and where the pitfalls can be avoided.
Everything You Need To Make Lavender Tea Properly
Now you have the basics of crafting a cup of Lavender Tea. But it is more complicated than that.
There are quite a few things you need to consider in order to get the best cup of tea you possibly can. Many of these ideas will work for any herbal flower tea, you can find some of our favorites here.
Getting everything right can be the difference between a cup of tea that you love and an astringent bitter mess that turns you off from tea for a long time. Let’s have a look at some of the important factors in making a cup of lavender tea.
Use The Right Type of Water
The ideal water for a cup of tea is one that has a balanced pH and very few minerals in the water.
Filtered water or bottled spring water are the best options for a great cup of tea(source). Bottle mineral water will leave your tea flat and muddled so it is best avoided.
Use A Proper Tea Infuser Or None At All
Something that is often overlooked when making lavender tea, or any tea for that matter, is the quality of the tea infuser or the tea bags. These can change the taste if you use poor ones.
For tea bags, you want to make sure you are using a bleach-free, biodegradable tea bag or sachet. Most of them are but check to be sure.
For a tea infuser, it is a little more complicated. You want to make sure your infuser is large enough to let the lavender flowers expand a little bit to make sure all the flavor flows into the water.
And the material should be a stainless steel construction as this will add the least amount of outside flavor to the tea.
Here is the best option for herbal teas, however. Place the flowers directly into the water. No bag, no infuser.
Just add them to the water and strain them out before you drink. There is nothing to stop the wonderful lavender flowers from expanding and delivering their fragrant bliss directly to the infusion.
Homegrown or Bought Lavender Flowers
For most people buying your lavender tea pre-packaged is going to be the most convenient option. There are plenty of places where you can get lavender tea bags that you can use at will.
Teabags are quick and taste fine, but I would suggest trying loose-flower lavender tea. I think the taste difference is noticeable in many cases. You can find dried flowers at a variety of tea stores online.
The last option is to grow your own lavender and use it in your tea. This is going to depend a lot on where you live and how well you can garden.
Lavender is pretty hardy but you will need to see if it can grow in your region. Then it is simply a matter of growing and drying your own flowers for a fresh cup of lavender tea.
What Water Temperature For Steeping Lavender Tea?
Herbal infusions are quite a bit more resilient than most true teas. You can burn green tea, here are some of our favorites, very easily if your water is too hot for example.
But for most herbal infusions the water temperature will need to be pretty close to boiling.
For lavender tea, I suggest a water temperature of about 205°F for a proper steep. Always keep the steeping tea covered to trap in the flavor and keep the heat dissipation to a minimum.
How Long To Steep Lavender Tea?
Over-steeping is not as much of an issue as it is with some true teas. It is very easy to over-steep green tea, for example.
Some green teas should steep for as little as 45 seconds. Herbal teas, like lavender, tend to need a lot more time to draw out all the flavors that they have to offer.
I suggest a 5-7 minute covered steep for your lavender tea. For a full kettle, you might want to let it steep for a full 10-15 minutes depending on how much water you have to infuse.
As always, this is just a starting point, experiment a little to find the right time that gives you your perfect cup of tea.
How Much Lavender Tea Flower?
For most people, one bag for one cup is the right amount. You can steep a bag a couple of times in most cases but many people just toss the bag after using it. That is fine for most lavender tea bags as well.
For loose-leaf, technically loose-flower, lavender tea, you will want to measure out about 2 teaspoons per 10 oz of water.
A 10oz cup is about the standard size for a teacup or coffee mug. Place it into your infuser and drop it in your water. Cover for a few minutes and you are set.
Adjust the amount to your specific tastes. I know some people who use 4 teaspoons per cup. Be sure to experiment.
Lavender Tea Steeping Instructions Quick Recap
- 5-7 Minutes is a great range to steep your lavender tea
- A water temperature of 205°F works great for Lavender Tea
- 1-2 Teaspoons of Lavender flowers or one pre-packaged bag of Lavender tea.
- Always cover your tea when steeping it.
Lavender Tea Variations To Try
Lavender tea is a fantastic tea to blend with other teas. It brings its unique slightly minty floral flavor to any type of tea and when blended properly compliments the tea without overpowering it.
Here are a couple of examples, but be sure to check out our article of some more great lavender tea flavor ideas.
- Lavender And Earl Grey Tea – A classic tea blended with lavender. The citrusy flavor of the bergamot orange flavor of the earl grey mixes wonderfully with the lavender and combines to give you an incredibly smooth and drinkable tea.
- Lavender And Chamomile Tea – One of the most common teas to mix with lavender tea is chamomile. The lavender brings a lot of flavor and drinkability to the blend. Simply add both dried flowers to your infuser and steep as normal.
- Rose and Lavender Tea – A Floral overload. The delicate floral taste of the rose tea is almost the perfect compliment for the slightly minty lavender tea. You can find this one pre-packaged in many stores but making your own is truly special.
Related Questions
#1 What happens when you steep Lavender tea for too long? Steeping Lavender tea too long can result in the tea becoming bitter. It is not a huge concern for herbal infusions but you can over steep them if you really want to.
#2 Why should you not squeeze a teabag? You typically don’t want to squeeze a lavender tea bag, or any tea bag for that matter, because it will release a lot of the tannins that the bag has held back. These will make the tea quite bitter if you steep the tea wrong or squeeze the bag.
#3 Where to buy lavender tea? Lavender tea has grown in popularity to the point where you can pick it up almost anywhere. Most grocery stores will have some sort of blend of lavender tea at the very least.
You can find lavender tea in loose leaf and bagged varieties and both work fine for a quick cup of tea, although I generally prefer loose leaf teas whenever possible. You can find a great example of lavender tea and where to buy it in our guide to flower herbal teas. Check it out.
The Finish
Many people simply drop a bag of tea into a cup and dump boiling water over it, then let it sit with no cover for however long until they are ready to drink it.
That is just the wrong way to go about it. Hopefully, this will help you get the most out of your lavender tea and herbal teas in general. I hope you have enjoyed the article and look forward to joining us again.
Thanks for visiting and have a wonderful day.