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Friday, August 9, 2013

How to Make Your Own Echinacea Tea


It's August already and that means fall is around the corner as well as the seasonal onslaught of colds and flu.  However, if you have this plant growing in your garden, you can make your own arsenal of flu-fighting goodness for pennies a cup!

Echinacea Purpurea is the above mentioned flower that is used for this medicinal AND delicious tea.  This North American native flower is wonderful to include in your garden for many reasons and you can read more about that here.  When I first began learning about herbs 20 years ago, this was one of my go-to plants for my family.
 

I first began using it primarily in conjunction with ear infections.  If our boys had an infection, I immediately put them on this tea to help fight it off and to boost their own immune system.  I would use my Garlic Oil Ear Remedy to get rid of the infection and used this as a "chaser" to keep the infection away.  Our boys began drinking this out of bottles and then sippy cups.  They loved it and it is still one of their favorite herbal teas to drink.

How to make this?  It's so simple if you have the plants.  If you don't, you could always buy the plant parts from a reputable company.  The roots of this plant have the strongest medicinal effect, but the leaves and flowers are medicinal too and mild enough for the little ones.  I don't want to sacrifice my plants for the roots, plus the work in digging them up, cleaning, drying and cutting them up is a lot of work.  I use raw garlic as the main antibiotic and anti-viral fighter and echinacea to build our immune system.


Locate your plants and find the topmost leaves that are free from brown spots, insect bites and anything else.  I always use the uppermost leaves as they are newer and less bitter.  Select flowers that are the newest blooms.  Cut the stem completely away.  Place in a dehydrator tray or even a cookie rack that has a grid pattern on it.  Put the cookie rack on a cookie sheet to give some air circulation between it.  I often just let the leaves air dry in a dark, fairly cool place. 

 You can use your dehydrator if you like or I've heard of using your car to dry your herbs as well because let's face it, if your car is outside, it gets to be an oven in there.  It's so easy to dry your own herbs that it's well worth the effort.


I based my recipe off of the original "Traditional Medicinals Echinacea Tea" by Rosemary Gladstar.  So, I also add spearmint and lemongrass to my echinacea.   I just so happen to grow a delicious spearmint, so I'll add this to my tray of leaves and flowers to dry.


You can dry the plant parts separately and mix them or dry them together and put them in a nice tin or glass jar when dry.  If the jar is clear, make sure to store in a dark place so the herbs don't lose their potency.

I buy lemongrass to add to the mix for flavor, however, I grow lemon balm so this would be a nice addition to the blend as well.  The main idea is to have more echinacea than the other herbs in order to get the most benefit.  I find the spearmint is just enough with a hint of lemongrass.  I found some lemongrass at an Asian market and will dry my own for the blend. 

Here's a basic recipe using dried plant parts:

Echinacea Tea
1 part echinacea parts, leaves, flowers, roots
1/4 part lemon grass
1/4 part spearmint leaves (or to taste)
Stevia leaves to taste

Mix and brew at the first sign of cold or flu.  Based on the Traditional Medicinal recipe.


There you have it.  Your own stash of Echinacea Tea from your own backyard to brew at the first sign of a sniffle during the dark days of winter.  I think you'll find yourself going back to this tea time and time again; even if you don't have a cold...blessings!

Do you grow and make your own teas?  Do you use Echinacea Tea?



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22 comments:

  1. This is an excellent post; thank you for sharing. Your plants are healthy and beautiful. I do grow and make my own herbal teas - I have echinacea in three different spots in my garden and will be drying it for tea soon after reading this article. We usually take it in capsule form, but I love the idea of a soothing tea.

    Wondering if you're you familiar with self-heal? I just posted yesterday about my latest herbal discovery, and it's a keeper.
    http://foothillsofthegreatsmokymountains.blogspot.com/2013/08/self-heal-herbal-remedy.html

    Have a wonderful weekend!

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    1. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy echinacea as a tea. I will definitely be checking out your post on self-heal...I love learning about new herbs!

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  2. Never knew you could use this flower for a tea!! I have mint growing everywhere in my azaleas!! We just go out and pick off from the top all summer long!!

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    1. Yes, it makes a pretty tea too with the purple petals. That's awesome about your mint too...it's so fun to be able to go out and add herbs to your tea! :)

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  3. I've never had echinacea tea before, but now I want to try it! I love learning more about natural remedies for illnesses and this tea sounds awesome. The flowers are so pretty, too. I might have to plant this in my garden next year!

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    1. Yes Tammy...this plant is a win-win in the garden AND in your herbal medicine chest!

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  4. Love this recipe. I usually use echinacea as a tincture for colds (with some astragalus), but I think I may have to incorporate it as a tea more often. Followed you from the Homestead Barn Hop.
    Love for you to come by Wildcrafting Wednesday and share.
    http://www.herbanmomma.com/2013/08/wildcrafting-wednesday-8-14-13/

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    1. Thanks for the invite...will stop by and link up!! :)

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    2. Thanks for sharing on Wildcrafting Wednesdays! I hope you'll join us again and share more of your awesome posts in the future.
      http://www.herbanmomma.com/2013/08/wildcrafting-wednesday-8-14-13

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  5. Hi,
    Thanks for joining us at Wildcrafting Wednesday this week! We love awesome posts such as yours :) it is a timely post for me because I am in my first year of growing echinacea. I have cut the flower heads and have them drying now. I was wondering when you make the tea, do you just chop the whole head? Even the spiny middle part? Thanks for your help. I am really looking forward to using this wonderful plant this year :)
    Jerica
    http://www.sustaincreateandflow.com

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    1. Thanks so much! I have saved the flowers both ways...chopped up the heads and other times only use the petals. I've read in several herb books and online that the whole plant is medicinal and I focus primarily on the leaves. I add the petals to make the tea pretty (I admit!) but if you feel like chopping the whole seed head to include in your tea, then that would be great too. Hope you enjoy it this winter!

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  6. This is really cool! Echinacea grows really well here so I will have to grow some and give this a try. Thanks for sharing this with us at the HomeAcre Hop. We'd love to have you back again tomorrow: http://wp.me/p2urYY-16c

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  7. I have an echinacea plant that has green flowers do you think I could use that for tea?

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    1. Hi Shantel, great question! I found this bit of info on a website that I will reference after this reply, "Three species of echinacea are commonly used for medicinal purposes: Echinacea angustifolia, Echinacea pallida, and Echinacea purpurea." I used Echinacea purpurea. I would think you could use your variety but the medicinal effects could much less effective. The purpea variety that I grow is very common and easy to grow from seed or from a friend's extra plant. Hope this helps!
      (http://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/herb/echinacea)

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  8. Love this. I've used herbs for years to heal.. Praise God for echinacea! I love dandilion root as well.. It's the easiest way I have ever read to make tea... I will try now.. Thank u for your time.. It's encouraged so many!!

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  9. Love this. I've used herbs for years to heal.. Praise God for echinacea! I love dandilion root as well.. It's the easiest way I have ever read to make tea... I will try now.. Thank u for your time.. It's encouraged so many!!

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    1. Thanks so much for your encouragement and so glad you enjoy herbs as well!

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  10. Thank you for your information on how to make echinacea tea. I work for the Gurney's call center, and I had a customer ask me that question and I found your website most helpful. My wife and I grow echinacea and mint, so we'll give it a try ourselves.

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  11. Thank you for your information on how to make echinacea tea. I had a customer ask me about that and I found your website most helpful. My wife and I grow echinacea and mint, so we'll give it a try ourselves.

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  12. How long do I dry the leaves and flowers? I am thinking I will use my car. How hot is too hot? We will only be in the low 90's this week.

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    1. In a car you will want to monitor the leaves and flowers since you can't regulate the heat. I don't put them in direct sun and leave them until they are crisp dry but still have color. I check them on the hour and make sure they are drying on top of a strainer or something that allows air circulation. You can store them whole or broken in an airtight container. :)

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