Tea Journal · Herbal and caffeine free

Lavender tea: how to drink it without it tasting like soap

Lavender is a flower most people know from a drawer sachet, and that is the problem. Brewed too strong it tastes like it smells, which is to say like soap. Used lightly, it is lovely, soft and floral with a honeyed edge. The difference is all in the amount. Here is how to get it right.

On its own

One level teaspoon per 200ml, not heaped. Freshly boiled water. Three to four minutes, covered. That is enough. Lavender is one of the strongest flavoured flowers there is and a little goes a long way. If you want it softer still, pour the first half minute of water away and start again, which takes the sharpest edge off.

What it tastes like

Floral, obviously, with a sweet, slightly herbal note and a long finish. I will be straight, on its own it is not my cup. I find the floral too strong. But as an ingredient in a blend I use it all the time, and the smell of the dried flowers is fantastic. Ours is pure Lavandula angustifolia, the English lavender variety, which is the one for drinking.

The blends that make it sing

Lavender Earl Grey is the one that wins people over. A heaped spoon of Earl Grey with a quarter spoon of lavender, brewed three minutes. The citrus and the flower suit each other and the black tea gives it a base. Add milk and a little honey and it is a lavender London Fog.

Lavender and chamomile, half and half, is a soft evening cup. Lavender in a pot of honeybush is sweet and gentle. A pinch in Scottish Breakfast is a surprise that works.

In the kitchen

Steep a spoon in warm milk for a lavender hot chocolate or a custard. Steep it in a sugar syrup for lemonade. Grind a pinch into shortbread. It pairs with lemon, honey, blueberry and dark chocolate.

Caffeine

None. It is a flower, not tea leaf, so it is fine at any hour.