Sticking things into hot water for a while and drinking the result is an age old and universal custom.

Some people do it for their health, others do it for pleasure. I'm in the second camp!

So which ones are nice to drink and recommended?


I've become a recent convert to Mugi-cha, a Japanese tisane made from roasted barley (and sometimes a little rye). It's naturally caffeine free.

I didn't like it at first - it's kind of remniscent of the kind of drink you'd get if you used the water for cleaning out a coffee encrusted vessel. But that prejeudice aside, the result is actually rather pleasant. Drank cold, it has a rich, smooth flavour (it's quite nutritious) and a clean, barely discernable after taste. I personally find it much easier to drink than water, especially in large quantities (it's a suggested drink for flushing out kidney impurities - the Japanese say it thins your blood).

You can make it hot, but I've gotten into the cold version. Take a mugicha tea bag (I'm using the kind at the top of this page from 'House' as it's easily available from Japanese grocery stores in the UK) and just pop it into a quart/litre of cold water. Put it in the fridge for a while and it's ready 15 minutes or so later. You can leave the tea bag in the jug/bottle for a day or so if you want, it doesn't really 'over brew' (just add a little more water if you think it's too strong)

In Korea it's called 'bori cha', in Spain it's called 'agua de cebada' and there it is drank cold (commonly like a slushy) with plenty of sugar and often with a little cinammon and lemon rind.

-----------------

Another of my favourite tisanes is a simple infusion of mint leaves (together with some sugar) drank hot.


I also like to drink a hot 'tea' made with bitter gourd occasionally. But I know very little about this drink.


Any other favourites?

The roasted barley is an acquired taste, I only care for it occasionally. But haven't thought about trying it cold, will give it a try. Thanks.

Mu aunt steeps Greek sage in boiling water and it is simply delicious. It doesn't seem to work well with "other" sages, though.

Bitter gourd? Sage? You're far more adventurous drinkers than I am. Excitement for me is a trip to the U.K. so I can hit Sainsbury or Tesco and stock up on Twinings Lemon Twist (can't find it in the U.S., for some reason).

As for the teas we have here in the U.S. (we usually call tisanes "herbal" tea, which is not an accurate description but differentiates it from black tea), I like something called sassafras, which is difficult to find here in NYC. It tastes a bit like root beer, one of the few things I love that I think of as quintessentially American (otherwise, I'm usually a Euro-snob ).

Harney and Sons (www.harney.com) has some nice herbal offerings--traditional, French and modern.
Imperial Tea Court (www.imperialtea.com) has lovely blends that seem more Chinese/traditional with modern interpretation--August Moon, Four Treasures. Both are wonderful companies with excellent products. And fabulous tea selections, of course!

Chamomile (with a bit of honey), verbena, yellow and blue (chamomile/lavender) for when I want to sleep, peppermint (especially if I am feeling queasy), valerian/mint (to soothe the nerves).

I am told that there is an herbal infusion some people use for headache relief, but I don't know what it is, exactly. Does anyone have any information?

There'll be quite a few tisanes that have this claim attributed to them.
Linden 'tea' (tilia) is very popular in France, partly as a way to help a headache or migraine (more about that claim here http://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/herb/linden)

To lower blood pressure (many believe this can contribute to headaches even though there is no conclusive evidence to support this) then an infusion of soba groats has been proven to lower blood pressure as well as bad cholesterol levels. (http://www.hort.cornell.edu/bjorkman...L/june10.php#D)

I'd never heard of the roasted corn tea (oksusu cha) and will definitely seek it out.

I enjoy mugicha as well. It tastes a little like coffee to me.

I've had hyeonmi cha but never heard of roasted corn tea either. Sounds delicious from what I see on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oksusu_cha

Could probably make a thread just on Korean non-tea teas.

Honey Yuja is kind of like a marmalade made from Chinese Citron (Yuzu in Japanese) and honey. To make it you just dissolve a a couple of teaspoons into hot water, I'll even eat the remaining rind and pith. One of the joys of entering the cooler months, love a hot cup of Yuzu cha on a cold day!

Sort of similar to Yuja tea is Korean honey plum tea (you can get lovely brews based on umeboshi in Japan which aren't as sweet).

Last winter I got into making Daechucha as I had been given a couple of bags of jujubes (Chinese dates) http://1tess.wordpress.com/2011/02/2...tea-daechucha/
Really warming with the ginger. The pine kernels aren't essential but I love the fragrance they give to the drink's steam.

I've no doubt there are plenty more kinds from Korea, I always welcome the opportunity to try new tisanes (and real teas)

mint, fresh ginger, lemon slices or any combination thereof + hot water.

with or without raw sugar/honey

French-style verbena tisane is one I always enjoy - and never see it in this country. To make things worse, I always forget to buy some to bring back when I'm in France...

Green tea with mint leaves Moroccan Style

when autumn temperatures start dropping, i think i go through at least one pot of boricha every day.

Everything listed above is something that I like, as long as no sugar has been added.

Once in a while, when I'd eat at a Lanzhou lamian (ramen) place in China, one of the elders would steep a curious blend of twigs, berries and leaves. Whereas I wasn't reluctant to have a cup, I had no idea as to what plants and trees the mix came from. Not to mention, water in China is psychotropic (or it should be), so there was always a metallic or generally unpleasant aftertaste regardless of what was steeped. In any event, it was the only sugarless drink available in the neighborhood, besides re-bottled water.

This past summer, our local coffee bean importer turned me on to Cascara Coffee Cherry Tea. I really enjoy it as iced tea, not so much as hot tea.
Since it's shredded dried coffee cherries, it is naturally sweet, but I add a tablespoon or two of honey per liter of warm tea, then chill it and drink over ice.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffee_cherry_tea

For a hot drink, I like Yerba Mate with honey.