So I am now hooked on this site and glad that I decided to register. The wealth of information and experience is priceless.

Here is the question: I have always been more of a hot tea drinker. Aside from growing my own herbs (which isn't going to happen anytime soon) can anyone recommend some "raw-friendly" teas or similar alternatives?

Thank you in advance.

Patty

SW, Welcome! Tea is one of those gray areas. I found that to really get the essential oils out, etc., I have to use boiling water rather than water heated to 110 degrees F. I tried the raw method with Senna Leaf tea and it didn't work at all.

You can make "sun" tea with herbs and that would technically be raw. For teas, I use organic (if I can find it) herbs like mint, German Chamomile, Horsetail, etc.

So, it's up to you how strict you want to adhere to the raw concept with tea. I hear that at Juliano's restaurant, they serve coffee. I stopped drinking coffee myself but apparently they believe it is healthy.

Tailor raw to what fits your body. Your body will then tell you when it's time to further eliminate certain foods/beverages.

Good luck! Therese

I find the best raw tea is made with dried organic flowers like rose petals, hibiscus, and cammomile. My favorite is straight up rose. I Usually soak two table spoons of rose petals in one litre of water. I shake it up and then put it in the fridge for a couple of days. A couple of days seems long but it is worth it. Use only red rose petals and wait until all of the colour from the petals is in the water then strain it. You can warm it up or leave it out to get to room temperature. Sometimes I mix it with a hot green tea and some raw honey.

Chammomile you can do overnight, but I also like to use recently boiled water over chammomile because the flower then excretes this gooey substance that I will rub over my face before going to bed. This is better done with a tea bag. You can also use the rose tea as a morning face toner.

I know you can leave the tea in the sun, or the moon and magic is supposed to happen, but I like the cool clean refrigerator.

Yerba Mate. I love it. It doesn't really taste "good" but it's one of those things you get used to and crave. It's weird, has a small amount of caffeine in it but without any jittery side effects you'd get with coffee or regular tea. It also has vitamins and supposedly more antioxidants than Green Tea. There are flavored kinds that taste better but they're probably not considered "raw". You can always add raw honey or agave or whatever to it. I don't know what the past raw temp is but you can't make Yerba with water above 176F anyway because it ruins it. It's considered more of an herb than a tea.

Some info here:
[www.yerbamate.us]

Also the cheapest website to order it from. Stay away from the kind in bags. It's not the same at all.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/23/2007 03:17AM by LikeItOrNot.

Thanks! I just purchased some yerba mate tea from my local healthfood store. I amanxious to try it.

Patty