I have tons of dried Spearmint that I had picked myself. It is growing wild, just outside my garden fence. I tried to make some tea, but was disappointed: I stuffed a large tea ball with as many leaves as I could fit in, and let it steep for fifteen minutes in an eight ounce coffee cup filled with boiling water. The tea smelled delicious, but it was like drinking hot water, with a little bit of flavor. Then, when I ate the soaked re-hydrated leaves, I experienced the delicious intense spicy flavor that I wished the tea tasted like. It is clear that the tea ball infusion does not get enough of the flavor from Spearmint. How do I make strong Spearmint tea? There must be a better technique. Thanks
I have no experience with this. But your description indicates that the leaves will not release their strong flavor until they're crushed (eating the soaked leaves ) so perhaps you could incorporate some crushing into some step of the tea making?
I make mint tea as well. I find if I stuff my tea ball too full, it doesn't release the full flavor. The water needs to be able to move thru the leaves. Try using less leaves, and maybe crush them up a little.
I think you need to put the leaves in the hot water and allow them to move around, then strain the tea through a strainer. The tea bags sometimes have mint oil added to the dried tea to make it stronger. Never let the water simmer or boil, either. That will destroy the flavinoids that you are wanting to taste in your tea.
I crushed some dehydrated leaves with my hands, making flakes, and then I filled the tea ball 2/3 of the way with the leaves and put in in a cup of hot water. The problem is that the flakes were smaller than the holes in the tea ball and they started to leak into the cup. So - I said the heck with it and emptied all of the flakes into the cup. I'm drinking the "dirty" tea, chewing and swallowing the flakes as I go along. It works, but it is a mess. I'm gonna try Carolyn Keiper's suggestion and put the leaves directly in water, then strain out. I have a feeling that I'm going to end up just making a cup of hot water, and chewing the leaves directly while I sip the water. This gets me the complete flavor. If I figure out how to make a proper tea by pureeing the leaves to release the oils, getitng them into hot water and straining them out, I'll post it.
Crush the dried leaves gently right before brewing the tea. The gentle crushing will release the flavor of the mint. I use my coffee maker for brewing herb tea. Place a paper filter in the basket. Use 1/2 cup of leaves per 10 ounces of water. I know that sounds like a lot of spearmint, but it's not. Brew the tea as you would coffee. Because the water does not boil, but drips slowly through the filter, the tea is a perfect temperature for drinking, with no sediment in the cup.