One of my favorite ways to stay hydrated in the summer time is to drink flavorful and nourishing teas. As some of you may know, I am not always the best at keeping myself hydrated. I love drinking plain water, but tend to be quite picky about how my water tastes… or just forget to drink it entirely. However, making sun tea has been a great way to make sure I am able to stay properly hydrated and fully enjoy what I am drinking. Flavorful drinks hold my attention for much longer!

While these teas taste great, I also use them as a way to get additional nutrients throughout my day. As you’ll see in the recipe section, some of the herbs I tend to use have a high mineral content.

What is Sun Tea?

Sun tea is quite similar to a traditional hot tea with a slightly different preparation method. Instead of boiling water and adding herbs or a bag of tea to your cup, sun tea is made by simply mixing herbs with room temperature water and allowing the mixture to sit in the sun for 8-12 hours.

It’s so easy to mix, forget, and come back to the next day for some perfectly brewed tea!

I love using this method in the summer because it makes a concentrated tea that doesn’t have any of the bitter notes that can occasionally arise from steeping darker or caffeinated teas for too long.

This method of tea making can be done using either bagged or loose tea, whichever you have on hand. I am personally a big fan of using loose herbs and teas because I can customize the ratios of each ingredient, but use what you have!

My Current Go-To Recipes

I tend to make my teas in quart size glass jars and would recommend using glass if you are able. Plastic containers tend to leech when they get hot and that can easily happen when leaving your jars in the sun.

This quart sized jar amount creates 4 8oz cups of tea. I also tend to only strain my tea as I pour it into a cup using a small strainer that I purchased from my local Indian grocery store. Indian grocery stores are a GREAT place to find tea making supplies and to find all of the ingredients for chai tea in bulk.

Straining each time I pour a cup of tea from the jar allows me to save the loose tea ingredients and make an additional (and less concentrated) round of tea with the same leaves. It’s a great way to get the full life out of your teas and achieve slightly different flavor profiles.

I will show you two of my frequently made teas in this post, one is a simple black tea and the other is an herbal blend.

A Simple Black Tea

For this recipe, use whichever black tea you have on hand. I use the Tetley loose leaf black tea in the photos.

Ingredients:

• 1 quart of drinking water
• 1 tbsp of loose leaf tea OR 3 tea bags

Process:

1. add your tea to your quart sized jar
2. add water on top of tea and place lid
3. gently shake to allow any air bubbles to escape and fully saturate the tea with water
4. put in a sunny spot and allow to sit for 8-12 hours (it’s also okay do let it sit overnight!)
5. strain as needed and refill with water if you wish. Enjoy!

My Current Favorite Herbal Tea Blend

If you have or can find loose herbs, definitely try this! I suggest sourcing your herbs from a local herbalism store or from a reputable farm. If you’re ordering online, I suggest mountain rose herbs. They are a major supplier for many small herbalism stores.

Ingredients:**

• 1 quart of drinking water
• 1/2 tbsp peppermint
• 1/2 tbsp stinging nettles
• 1/2 tbsp hibiscus
• 1/4 tbsp rose petals
• 1/4 tbsp marshmallow root (leave out if you are experiencing congestion)

Process:

1. add your tea to your quart sized jar
2. add water on top of tea and place lid
3. gently shake to allow any air bubbles to escape and fully saturate the tea with water
4. put in a sunny spot and allow to sit for 8-12 hours (it’s also okay do let it sit overnight!)
5. strain as needed and refill with water if you wish. Enjoy!

**consult your doctor or check for any potential drug interactions with these herbs.

Slight Intro to Herbalism and why I chose the herbs included in my tea blend

Herbalism is one of the oldest medicinal practices in the world. The use of herbs in medicine can be found in many indigenous cultures around the world, is still common in Chinese Medicine, and can still be found in western medicine.

Have you ever had a ginger soda or ginger tea to soothe nausea? Or used peppermint to help decrease the severity of a headache or soothe a stomach ache? I’d also bet your or someone you know is taking a turmeric supplement to help with inflammation reduction. All of these are examples of using herbalism!!

While some herbs are researched more than others, there are more and more scientists taking the importance of the herbs and plants found around us seriously and we are beginning to see more and more herbs commonly used in Western Medicine.

I have been studying herbalism for approximately 4 years now and have found some herbs that genuinely help with everyday life, a few of which are included below.

Want to hear more about herbalism? Let me know if I should make a blog series on the topic!

The Herbs

Of the herbs included in my tea blend, here are some of their benefits and my reason for adding them:

• Peppermint has been shown to aid in digestion, decrease headaches and migraines, may help increase energy, and decrease the impacts of seasonal allergies (1). I chose to add this to my tea because I tend to drink it in the morning. If I am dealing with seasonal allergies, the mornings tend to be the worst for me, so adding in something that will help is a must!
• Stinging Nettle. Yes, I am referring to the slightly pokey plant that comes up in the spring and can cause an allergic reaction in some people. However, once it is cooked or dried, stinging nettle is completely safe and edible. It has been used by many as a great source of nutrients (including vitamins A, C, K, Calcium, Iron, and Magnesium). It also has been shown to help with symptoms of seasonal allergies and hay fever. (2) I have found that stinging nettle is single handedly the most important medicine to have on-hand during hay fever season. I keep a tincture of this herb in my bag at all times and take a bit when I feel the symptoms come on and this helps so much!
• Hibiscus is packed with antioxidants, may help improve liver health, among other things. (3) Honestly, I mostly include it because I absolutely love the taste
• Rose petals are high in antioxidants, may help with digestion, and have a warming, sensual aroma. (4) Who wouldn’t love them?
• Marshmallow root is very moistening. This is great if you have a raw throat from coughing or post-nasal drip. It is also great for soothing the digestive system and may be helpful in repairing the gut lining. (5)

Thanks for reading! – Hailey

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