The Best Cup Of Tea I Ever Had

September 12th, 2011 - filed under: Furthermore » Inspiration



Around here, 2011 will forever be known as the year that flowers invaded my vegetable garden. Zinnias crowded out all of my basil, cosmos overwhelmed my watermelons and cucumbers, and the borage totally sun-blocked the winter butternuts, leaving them spindly and shriveled. Not that I’m complaining! I got a ton of greens, some tomatoes, heirloom beets, spinach and lettuce, and please cross your fingers for my potatoes. Plus, we’ve had flowers on the table non-stop all summer, which is simply delightful.

So way back at the beginning of spring when I was planting this flower-filled vegetable garden, I sprinkled an entire package of chamomile seeds in amongst my vine fruits (melons and squashes). Chamomile has the teeniest tiniest seeds I’ve ever seen! And when the garden took off, and especially when those cosmos went ca-razy, I completely forgot about the chamomile. Until . . .


Look what I found when I was digging around, the chamomile actually came up! Well, some of it did – just three plants buried in the cosmo jungle, and one random stalk all the way across the yard, over by the taters.

I was thrilled. I had home-grown medicinals! I pulled them all up when their flowers were blooming, brought them inside, and laid them out to dry. It didn’t take long, and before I knew it they were crispy as can be:


I detached the flower buds (I didn’t want to do this before they dried because they were so delicate) and transferred them to a small glass jar, and there they waited. And waited. For the perfect opportunity . . .



Yesterday evening I became inexplicably nauseous (no dears, it’s not that). My normally “iron stomach” was doing back flips, and I felt sick every time I stood up. I think I pushed my luck on some old carrots. Whoops. ANYWAYS.

What better to tame the tummy than a nice cup of chamomile?



Steeping . . .



The pour . . .

. . . at which point I realized it was actually, like, 93ºF in my house, and maybe I should drink this treat over ice.



Which I did. No sweetener needed, because it was truly the most delicious tea I have ever tasted. ♥

  • Diana

    That is awesome!!! I’m expanding my herb garden each week so I have an arsenal of medicinal herbs on hand. Have you ever looked into honeysuckle tea? I’ve been drinking it for years for bronchitis and just found more info that it’s used in China for damn near everything, so in the spring I’ll be planting a ton of it. I has a medicinal taste to it, so I’m growing mint to steep with it so it has a more pleasant taste.

  • Diana

    That is awesome!!! I’m expanding my herb garden each week so I have an arsenal of medicinal herbs on hand. Have you ever looked into honeysuckle tea? I’ve been drinking it for years for bronchitis and just found more info that it’s used in China for damn near everything, so in the spring I’ll be planting a ton of it. I has a medicinal taste to it, so I’m growing mint to steep with it so it has a more pleasant taste.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Sara-Shumway-Thomas/1461588180 Sara Shumway Thomas

    i LOVE fresh tea like that! i made tea with my french press once because i didnt have a tea pot. i adore your set, where did you get it? the colors are awesome & i am a huge fan of monogram/initials. anyway, hopefully youre feeling better!

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Sara-Shumway-Thomas/1461588180 Sara Shumway Thomas

    i LOVE fresh tea like that! i made tea with my french press once because i didnt have a tea pot. i adore your set, where did you get it? the colors are awesome & i am a huge fan of monogram/initials. anyway, hopefully youre feeling better!

  • Selina

    I agree…nothing ever tastes quite as good as something you grew with your own two hands!

  • Rebecca

    I looove me some good tea! In high school our senior photo project was to make a book and mine was all about tea!

  • Anonymous

    Could I interest you in perhaps switching the wording on this post? maybe interchange the word “tea” for the more suiting “infusion”, “tisane” or at the very least “herbal tea”?

    I mean, here I was waiting for a kick ass review of a good oolong, maybe a post about the health benefits of an aged pu-ehr… or something about any other tea, be it white, blue, yellow, red, green or black… real tea (you know, it must contain tea leaves –camellia sinensis– to be called tea) T_T

    http://www.teaclass.com/lesson_0101.html
    http://www.teaclass.com/lesson_0102.html

    Oh well, my nitpicking apart, I love chamomile infusions… I used to drink liters while studying late at night. And you are right. No need for any type of sweeteners.

  • johanna

    Hello, I just stumled across your blog and fell in love with the teaset you are using. May I ask where you purchased it? It would be the perfect birthday present for my sister

  • Greenfeatherherbs

    Yay herbs! A passion & love of mine! Chamomile is excellent…I had some last night before bed. I like mine steeped for about 10 minutes…it gets rid of any bitterness.
    I’m an herbalist & my whole blog is dedicated to herbs :)
    http://greenfeatherherbs.blogspot.com/

  • Annie

    My Nanna called it my ‘flower water’, which I think sounds cute.

    If you’re fond of growing flowers and drinking flower water, calendula (also called Pot Marigold) are super pretty, and calendula/chamomile blend is diviiiine.
    Calendula oil is also an ‘oil tincture’ (the flowers are steeped in a carrier oil – often almond) so you can have a got at making that depending on your harvest.

  • Annie

    My Nanna called it my ‘flower water’, which I think sounds cute.

    If you’re fond of growing flowers and drinking flower water, calendula (also called Pot Marigold) are super pretty, and calendula/chamomile blend is diviiiine.
    Calendula oil is also an ‘oil tincture’ (the flowers are steeped in a carrier oil – often almond) so you can have a got at making that depending on your harvest.

  • http://windycityvegan.wordpress.com Monika {windycityvegan}

    How fun! I love it when I find hidden gems like that in my garden. When Mar had a lightbulb moment last spring and trellised the wild, brambly roses sprawling along the south side of our house, all I could think about was collecting the rose hips. I’m going to have more than I know what to do with . . . hmmmm, maybe I can incorporate them into holiday gifts this year.

  • Meghan

    My husband got me a real tea plant for my birthday… I hope it turns into tea some day!

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=38914961 Sarah Jessi Smith

    Um, your teapot and cups and saucers are so amazing! I love them! The whole post is so bright and lightly colored, it makes me so happy! I want to try my hand at this now! I wonder if they’ll grown in a window box…

  • http://cjousnamer.wordpress.com/ Cassandra

    This post made me so happy! I was growing chamomile in a pot in my dorm, but over the summer, it was neglected a bit too much, and didn’t make it to my new dorm :( But I will be trying again…very soon. Along with some spearmint.

  • http://cjousnamer.wordpress.com/ Cassandra

    This post made me so happy! I was growing chamomile in a pot in my dorm, but over the summer, it was neglected a bit too much, and didn’t make it to my new dorm :( But I will be trying again…very soon. Along with some spearmint.

  • http://vegancrunk.blogspot.com Bianca-Vegan Crunk

    How awesome! I’m not a huge tea fan, but if I had homegrown chamomile, I’m sure I’d love that cup of tea too!

  • Annie

    You can make rose hip jam, that would make a great gift in pretty jars.
    They’re also good treats for guinea pigs and chinchillas, as they’re high in vitamin C.

  • Stefani

    LOVE this post! I love to put the dried blossoms in foot soaks too – smells lovely!

  • http://bonzaiaphrodite.com/ Sayward Rebhal

    I love honeysuckle! And I need a new vining plant to go under the stairs out front, hmm . . . perhaps I’ll switch from wisteria to honeysuckle and get some tea out of it!

  • http://bonzaiaphrodite.com/ Sayward Rebhal

    French press is a great idea! The tea pot is by Bee House, you can find them on Amazon . . . or in my shoppe! (front page under “featured”) – http://bonzaiaphrodite.com/astore/

    The cups/saucers are from Anthropologie, a gift from long ago. =)

  • http://bonzaiaphrodite.com/ Sayward Rebhal

    French press is a great idea! The tea pot is by Bee House, you can find them on Amazon . . . or in my shoppe! (front page under “featured”) – http://bonzaiaphrodite.com/astore/

    The cups/saucers are from Anthropologie, a gift from long ago. =)

  • http://bonzaiaphrodite.com/ Sayward Rebhal

    Oh Erosan, I’ve missed you! =D

  • http://bonzaiaphrodite.com/ Sayward Rebhal

    The tea pot is by Bee House, you can find them on Amazon . . . or in my shoppe! (front page under “featured”) – http://bonzaiaphrodite.com/astore/

    The cups/saucers are from Anthropologie, a gift from long ago. =)

  • http://bonzaiaphrodite.com/ Sayward Rebhal

    Mmm rose hips are wonderful, you should totally make little tea bag gifts!

  • http://eerosa.wordpress.com erosan

    Oh, I’ve been here, lurking… just a tad too busy to comment. ^_^

    You know I love your blog and the beautiful photos, so I can’t go for more than 2 or 3 days without checking it, anyways…

  • http://eerosa.wordpress.com erosan

    Oh, I’ve been here, lurking… just a tad too busy to comment. ^_^

    You know I love your blog and the beautiful photos, so I can’t go for more than 2 or 3 days without checking it, anyways…

  • http://bonzaiaphrodite.com/ Sayward Rebhal

    Yay, I’m glad to here you’re still around! I thought maybe you’d disappeared forever. ;-)

  • http://bonzaiaphrodite.com/ Sayward Rebhal

    Yay, I’m glad to here you’re still around! I thought maybe you’d disappeared forever. ;-)

  • http://eerosa.wordpress.com erosan

    Are you kidding me? On my speed dial I only have links to 3 blogs (out of 30+ links, and chosen from over 1000+ bookmarks): MY girlfriend’s blog, your’s and the bloggess (which is hilarious). I am not kidding when I say I’m absolutely hooked to your blog. Why would I dissapear?

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