With hot days and warm evenings, cold tea is an enjoyable and healthy pleasure. Mother Nature provides for us in abundance if we will only let her. You know how good and beneficial green tea is for you and how it can be blended with any of the mints but here are two more incredible gifts to be enjoyed on upcoming summer days. While conventional Orange Pekoe tea found in the supermarket can be delicious and refreshing as a cold drink, why not break your routine with an herbal tea such as raspberry leaf or rooibos?
Red raspberry makes a tasty and slightly aromatic tea, which is very refreshing iced (a natural flavor without raspberry flavoring added). The part of the plant used is the bark, leaves and roots. I prefer the leaves.
The old herbalists considered red raspberry to be a bi-directional herb, which from a western medical point of view doesn’t make much sense, except that I’ve seen it work. Bi-directional basically means the herb will balance the body by increasing something, which is low, or decreasing something, which is high but will not affect anything, which is normal.
Modern science knows this herb is rich in calcium, chromium, iron, magnesium, niacin, phosphorus, potassium, riboflavin, selenium, thiamin, zinc and vitamins A, C and D.
Folk use of red raspberry was for balancing blood sugar levels (note the chromium content) lessening mucus discharge, strengthening intestinal walls, as an anti-diarrheal, cleansing the liver, as an oral rinse to heal canker sores, relieving kidney, urethral and bladder irritations and as an astringent topically.
A main use was especially for women as a tonic herb. Tonic means toning in the old terminology. Strengthening the female system, reducing morning sickness, hot flashes and cramps is a good thing, as any woman who has gone through it can attest.
Rooibos (Aspalattus linearis) comes to us from South Africa. It has as much as two times the amount of antioxidants of green tea and boasts a complex yet pleasing flavor and bouquet. This is a calming tea with no caffeine making it perfect for evenings and bedtime either hot or deliciously iced. This is a must try if you’ve never tasted it before.
