How to Steep Tea for Medicinal Purposes
This step-by-step guide shows you how to steep tea for medicinal purposes so you capture every bit of the healing goodness in your herbs. Perfect for beginners who want a simple, nourishing way to use herbal medicine at home.
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Servings: 1 Servings
Cost: Varies
Equipment
- 1 Steeping Vessel with a Cover French press, teapot, or a mug with a lid works great.
- Strainer Here are some of our favorite strainers for steeping tea.
- Mug
Ingredients
- 2 Teaspoons High Quality Herbs For what we don't grow, we source our herbs from Farmhouse Teas.
- Sweetener I like herb-infused honey.
Instructions
- Measure your herbs: Use two teaspoons of loose herbs (or two tea bags) per 8 ounces of water. For a stronger brew, go up to 1 tablespoon—but just know, it’ll taste stronger too!
- Heat your water: Bring your water to a boil, then let it cool slightly to about 208°F.
- Pour and cover: Pour the hot water over your herbs, cover your mug or teapot, and let it steep for 15 minutes.
- Strain and serve: Remove the herbs or strain the tea into your pre-warmed mug.
- Sweeten if desired: Add a little honey, and enjoy!
Notes
Tea Steeping Tips:
- Quality Matters – Choose fresh, organic herbs when you can. If you grow your own—wonderful!
- Don’t Skip the Cover – Those essential oils carry the plant’s most powerful benefits. If you let them drift away in the steam, you’re losing potency.
- Steep Long Enough – Five minutes won’t do it. Medicinal teas need a good 10–15 minutes to release their full healing potential.
- Squeeze Herbal Tea Bags – Unlike regular black tea, herbal teas are low in tannins, so it’s perfectly fine to squeeze them to extract more goodness.
- Don’t Stir – Let the herbs infuse naturally. Stirring can let those delicate oils escape through the steam.
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