Tea made with fresh herbs from the garden has a delicacy that is quite beautiful. The flavour is clean and clear, pure and ethereal. Like mint, lemon verbena grows in abundance from early spring through to autumn and I have both herbs in my garden at home. I often cut stems of verbena to place in a vase in my kitchen, encouraging its lemony scent to fill the air.
Recipe by Skye Gyngell
Lemon verbena tea
Ingredients
- 5 lemon verbena sprigs
- 15ml (1 tbsp) sugar (optional)
- 600ml boiling water
Instructions
Place the sprigs of verbena in a heatproof glass jug or teapot. Add the sugar if using – it will enhance the herby flavour, but isn't essential.
Pour on the boiling water, stir to dissolve the sugar and leave to infuse for 5 minutes before serving.
Notes
Cook's tip: Fresh herb tea makes a wonderful change from traditional teas, such as Earl Grey or Assam. As an alternative to lemon verbena, use a generous bunch of mint, steeping it in boiling water, with a little sugar if you like.
