A guide to taste
Herbal tea flavours
Most herbal tea is sold on a promise rather than a flavour. This is the other way round: what each botanical actually tastes like in the cup, what it sits well with, and when we tend to reach for it.
Nine botanicals, tasted
Chamomile
Soft, honeyed, faintly of apple and hay.
Pairs with — Lemon balm, linden, a strip of orange peel.
Moment — The last cup of the evening.
Peppermint
Sharp, cooling, clean on the finish.
Pairs with — Fennel, liquorice, lemon verbena.
Moment — After dinner, or over ice in summer.
Hibiscus
Deep crimson, tart as cranberry, brisk.
Pairs with — Rosehip, apple, sea buckthorn.
Moment — Iced on a hot afternoon.
Rosehip
Fruity and slightly sour, with a rounded, jammy body.
Pairs with — Hibiscus, blackberry, orange.
Moment — Mid-morning, hot.
Ginger
Warm, peppery heat that builds in the back of the throat.
Pairs with — Turmeric, cinnamon, lemon.
Moment — Cold weather, hands round the mug.
Elderflower
Floral, muscat-sweet, almost like a cordial.
Pairs with — Lemon verbena, apple, white tea.
Moment — Late spring, chilled with a slice of lemon.
Lemon verbena
Bright citrus without the acidity of actual lemon.
Pairs with — Peppermint, chamomile, elderflower.
Moment — The start of the day.
Rooibos
Malty, red, gently sweet — the closest herbal gets to a builder's brew.
Pairs with — Vanilla, cinnamon, orange.
Moment — Any time. Takes milk.
Lavender
Perfumed and slightly resinous. A little goes a very long way.
Pairs with — Chamomile, rose, linden.
Moment — A slow evening.
Building your own
The simplest rule: one base, one contrast, one accent. Take something soft and rounded as the base — rooibos, chamomile, apple. Add a contrast that pulls in another direction: peppermint against chamomile, ginger against apple. Then a small pinch of an accent that would dominate on its own — lavender, liquorice, clove.
Brew botanicals at a full boil for five to seven minutes, covered. Taste at four and decide from there.