Medicinal herbal teas are often ruined before they even start. We throw everything into boiling water, wait two minutes, and complain that it doesn’t work. This three-ingredient recipe deserves better than that — and it will reward you for it.
Ingredients :
- Dried chamomile — Get real chamomile — whole dried flowers, not a supermarket tea bag that’s been sitting there for two years. You can easily find a small box at a herbalist or organic grocery store for a few euros. Well-dried flowers have a slightly honeyed apple scent when crushed between your fingers. If you only have tea bags, it works, but it’s significantly less aromatic.
- Rosemary — Fresh or dry, both work. Fresh gives something more vivid, almost resinous. Dry is more concentrated and discreet. A single sprig is enough — rosemary has character and can quickly dominate if you use too much. Avoid powdered rosemary: it clouds the infusion and leaves an unpleasant sediment at the bottom.
- Cinnamon stick — A real stick, not ground cinnamon. First, because powder doesn’t filter well and leaves a pasty brown bottom in your cup. Second, because the stick releases its aromas gradually during cooking, yielding a rounder, less aggressive flavor. Ceylon cinnamon — lighter and more delicate — is preferable to Cassia cinnamon, which is darker and more pungent.
- Honey and lemon — Optional, but a squeeze of lemon juice is a game-changer. It wakes up the aromas and creates a balance between the heat of the cinnamon and the floral chamomile. Add them after filtering, never during cooking — heat destroys some of the honey’s aromas and makes the lemon bitter.
