Make a Peppermint Leaf Infusion - PEP BB medicine.sand.peppermintinfusion

I use the calming effects of peppermint as an infusion or tea.  The mint is harvested from the yard, chopped and bruised, hot water is poured over the leaf and covered.  Ten minutes later the liquid is strained into my cup.  Because I drink the tea right away there is nothing to store for later.  I am not using this to resolve specific issues so a dosing amount is not necessary.

I made a peppermint infusion the other day!  I infused it in hot water.

My journal is a MSWord-like document so I just copy/pasted the text here instead of taking a picture of my computer screen:

Infusions
Basic water recipe:
4-6T dried herb or 6-8T fresh into a quart jar
Fill jar with boiling water
Steep for 30-45 minutes
Strain and drink

Basic tea recipe:
1-2T fresh or dried herb in tea ball
Steep in nearly boiling water in tea cup or mug
Add maple syrup or honey to taste
Drink when cool enough to not burn  

My son wanted mint tea--so I took pictures for the badge bit!

I think it might not be necessary to require a permanent labeled jar picture for infusions, since most people drink them by the cup as teas/tisanes.

Peppermint infusion

Jennifer Richardson wrote:I think it might not be necessary to require a permanent labeled jar picture for infusions, since most people drink them by the cup as teas/tisanes.

[edit]My reading comprehension was evidently not doing well (hard to concentrate when kids keep asking me things, lol!), and I thought Jen was asking to have a labeled jar requirement. I didn't see that crucial not in her sentence! If nothing else, my below post is a great support for why we don't need a labeled jar! [/edit]

I'm wondering why they'd need to be put into jars. I'm looking at Dr Tilgner's book "Herbal Medicine from the Heart of the Earth," and she has a section on how to make herbal preparations. On page 430, is the page for making teas. I'm just going to quote it, because I am by no means an expert, and basically followed her page for my instruction for making a peppermint infusion.

(I'm hoping she doesn't mind I quoted such a large section. The entire book is amazing and wholey recommend it to anyone looking for in-depth herbal knowledge! Consider any and all grammar and spelling errors in the below quote to be due to my own mis-typing.)

Infusions:

Infusions are used for extraction of labile constituents such as vitamins, enzymes and volatile oils. the aerial parts of herbs such as flowers and leaves are usually used for infusions.

Directions for one cup of infusion:
Two recommended methods for hot infusion:

(A) Add one cup of boiling water to one tablespoon of dry herb or three tablespoons of fresh herb in an air tight container like a canning jar.

(B) Bring one cup of water to boil in a stainless steal or glass kettle. Remove the kettle from the burner and add one heaping tablespoon of the dry herb or three heaping tablespoons of fresh herb to the water. Cover the kettle with a tight-fitting lid.

Steep for 10-15 minutes.. R Remove the lid, strain and drink the liquid. The tea can be consumed hot or cold, depending on the specific usage. Large quantities can be made and stored in the refrigerator. Do not store tea for longer than 3 days because it may grow mold. It is best to make teas as they are needed.

I'm thinking the jar method (A) is the one Jennifer is mentioning, and is a totally valid method, especially for those storing for drinking later. But the non-jar method also seems to be valid for infusions.

I hope it's ok but I already changed the requirements to not require a picture in a jar.

My reading comprehension is so low today, LOL! I though Jennifer was asking for there to be a requirement for a labeled jar, not the other way around!

Sorry!

And, thank you, Mike, for removing it the requirement!

After the discussion here on requirements for the BB, I hope I do it right.

Photos:

Page on Peppermint in my Journal


Page on Peppermint Leaf Infusion in my Journal


Harvesting some Peppermint leaves


Peppermint Leaf Infusion almost ready

It's only Peppermint leaves in hot water, nothing else.
And then I drank it ...  

(Edited so now the photos must be visible to everyone)

Time for a cup of tea.

I used a tea ball to steep the leaves.

Steeped until cool enough to drink.

Peppermint page from my natural medicine notebook, with directions for infusion.

I boiled 4 cups of water and let it cool for 2 minutes then added 0.80 fresh peppermint plant (cut up) and let brew for about 10 minutes.  The water was 186 degrees F when I put the peppermint leaves in.
No sugar or any additional ingredients for this first brew test.

I found it to be pleasantly sweet and hours later, the flavor was more intense instead of bland like I expected based on my experience with store-bought teas.

Comments from my Taster:

I was not expecting it to be this flavorful.

It is really mild and the flavor lingers on my tongue.

This would be great when I have a head cold or want something comforting.

This may spoil me for store-bought dry tea.

Hi guys, I made an infusion today using the recipe that was suggested at the start of this post, as it was pretty darn sweet. I liked the idea of sort of gently muddling the mint leaves once picked to release some of their flavour/oils/goodness before pouring the hot water on - plus, who doesn't like using the word 'muddle' :)

Photos as follows:
1 - Picked the leaves
2 - Gently muddled the leaves
3 - Poured hot but not boiling water over the leaves in a cup
4 - Put a lid on said cup to allow it to steep for a while (recipe recommended 8 mins for fresh leaves)
5 - Entry in herb journal for herb attributes/how to grow
6 - Entry in herb journal for recipe used

T'was mighty fine.

Here is my BB submission!

Fresh mint:


Harvest Mint & Thyme:


Applying hot water:


Consumption:


Journal Entry:

The whole house smells like mint and my breath is dreamy. Yes, I made mint tea, or infusion. Also great for improving digestion. Harvested from my garden.

Another day, another infusion!

I picked some mint from the patch near my backdoor.

I heated water until little bubbles formed, add a handful of mint and left for 20 minutes until it’s cool enough to drink.

Delicious!

I harvested a handful of peppermint leaves from a plant that I am growing inside over the winter. I made an infusion with the addition of 2 tsp of previously harvested fennel seeds as an herbal remedy for my daughter’s upset stomach. She says that it helped.

Peppermint Sun Tea

I harvested a handful of peppermint from the garden and put it in a large mason jar with some filtered water. I left it out in the afternoon sun for a couple of hours. I poured out the water into a tea cup and had a nice light cup of refreshing mint tea.

To document this BB, post pictures or a 2-minute video depicting the following:
- Your peppermint leaves being harvested
- Your leaves in solution with a description of any other ingredients you used (if you used any)

Here is my peppermint leaf infusion.  I probably could have used half as many leaves as it was pretty strong.  I boiled water, dropped the leaves in, turned the heat off, and let it steep for 5 minutes.  When I took the lid off after 5 minutes of steeping, it almost made my eyes water!

Tea makes me very happy! Not only does it taste wonderful,  it it's healing properties are truly amazing!
This morning I made some peppermint tea with lemon balm and rosemary. I am growing stevia so I threw a pinch of that in to sweeten it up. Personally I like to let my teas steep longer than usual because it strengthens the flavor and increases the potency of the good stuff in the plants.

A mint tea (or, as my Ontarian friend would insist, tisane) has been made!

The mint in my garden pot:


Into the pot:


And hot water atop:


The final product:


Huzzah!

I picked peppermint leaves from the garden at night and made a simple infusion with boiling water.

Peppermint leaf infusion. I harvested Stalk of mint. I rolled it out on a piece of granite, and steeped in hot water. Strained, and drank my cup of tea.(this is my first post , bear with me 😊)

Afternoon tea time! Fresh mint harvested from the herb garden in a hot water infusion and finished with a bit of honey.

I made a peppermint leaf infusion to settle my daughter’s stomach. I added a couple of drops of honey.

An easy one

This afternoon's herbal tea with the last of the peppermint. Used on its own today.

Fresh Mint tea.

For infusion, pick as many leaves as you need according to taste.  Strip leaves off of stem and bruise.  Place in heatproof glass.  Pour in boiling filtered water.  Steep for a few minutes and strain.

Simple!  I like my mint tea plain.  I also like to cool it -- very refreshing on a warm day.

Feeling a little under the weather so hoping this lifts my spirits.

Infused peppermint leaves in hot water for tea.