tea

Maple Water Herbal Iced Tea

Have you ever heard of maple water before? the ever so slightly sweet water collected from maple trees before making maple syrup is available right now in Ontario and I always try to get my hands on a fresh bottle. If you can’t get any fresh there are boxed versions which have been pasteurized(imo not quite as good as the fresh stuff) so I try and get it while I can.

Maple water is touted as another post workout electrolyte enhancer (much like coconut water) as it is filled with minerals. I would recommend adding a pinch or two of sea salt to your water if you use it post workout. The flavour is not as sweet as coconut water which I like- it almost tastes like a glass of water with just the tiniest hint of maple syrup to it.

Hibiscus Healer (with Orange, Ginger and Lemon)

We sip tea on the daily in this household. On the couch with Netflix or the Toronto Raptors bouncing around in front of us, on the deck in the sweet summer evenings, in the kitchen as we prep, formulate and invent new(or old) recipes/meals and even (gasp!) in bed with a good book. We don’t drink coffee in our home simply because we can’t be bothered. I am not a fan and if my man wants some he goes to a local cafe where they can make it much better than we can. So, we stick to tea. (speaking of tea have you checked out my guide to making your own herbal tea blend?)

How to Create a Personalized Herbal Tea Blend (& one of my favourite blends!)

There is something a little bit magical about creating your own herbal tea blend. It’s as though you are formulating a potion just for you- mixing and matching different herbs for different needs- anxiety, stress, sleep, focus, energy immunity- you name it!

There is also something a little bit daunting about making your own herbal tea blend. Where to start? What herbs should I buy? How do I combine them? In my opinion, tea blending is the perfect way to begin your own home apothecary and is is the simplest way to use herbs, aside from cooking with them of course! You can start with a few basic herbs (you probably already have one or two in your spice cupboard!) and then go from there. It is important to note how the herbs act in YOUR own body and how they make you feel. I have a few favourites that I always seems to go back to like chamomile, lemon verbena, lemon balm, passionflower and hibiscus.

DIY ZEN TEA

As I sit here writing this it is 30 degrees celsius…with the humidex it’s 35 degrees. Can we just pause and be grateful for this for one minute. October sets in this weekend and I am going to do my best to appreciate the heat despite the fact that my butt is stuck to my chair and I won’t be able to sleep in my non air conditioned house tonight. Soon enough it will be freezing and I will be dreaming of this warm weather. So for those of you that are questioning the weather… I assure you, fall is coming. The cozy sweaters, crisp fresh air, the changing of leaves and a warm cup of tea. Sigh…

Tea, not only is an autumn must, but something I encourage you to make yourself. If you have an apothecary of dried herbs started fantastic! If not, now is the time to start. You don’t have to grow your own and dry it (although this is pretty cheap). You can buy organic bulk herbs at health food stores or online.