Essential Tea

Bergamot Tea

• 1 teaspoon of black tea
• 1 drop of Bergamot
• Add to 3 to 4 cups of hot water

Earl Grey tea is a tea blend with a distinctive flavour and aroma derived from the addition of oil extracted from the rind of the bergamot orange, a fragrant citrus fruit. Bergamot (Citrus aurantium bergamia) is a small and roughly pear-shaped fragrant citrus fruit native to Southeast Asia. The fruit grows on small trees which blossom during the early spring. Its unique aroma blends well with Earl Grey tea. In Calabria the juice of the fruit is used in herbal medicine as a remedy for malaria and its essential oil is popular in aromatherapy applications.

The Earl Grey blend is named after the 2nd Earl Grey, British Prime Minister in the 1830s and author of the Reform Bill of 1832, who reputedly received a gift, probably a diplomatic perquisite, of tea flavoured with bergamot oil, taken from bergamot, a citrus fruit typical of Southeast Asia and is grown commercially in Italy. Twinings also has a proprietary branded tea variety called “Lady Grey” made with lemon and Seville orange in addition to bergamot.

Jasmine Tea

• 1 teaspoon of green tea
• 1 drop of Jasmine
• Add to 3 to 4 cups of hot water

Jasmine tisane is consumed in China, where it is called Jasmine flower tea. Jasminum sambac flowers are also used to make tea, which often has a base of green tea, but sometimes an Oolong base is used. Jasmine essential oil is now commonly in use. Its flowers are either extracted by the labour-intensive method of enfleurage, or through chemical extraction. The reason it is so expensive is because of the enormous amount of flowers needed to produce a small amount of oil.

Orange Tea

• 1 teaspoon of green or black tea
• 1 drop of Orange
• Add to 2 to 3 cups of hot water

Oranges originated in Southeast Asia. The fruit of Citrus sinensis is called sweet orange to distinguish it from Citrus aurantium, the bitter orange. Sweet orange oil is a by-product of the juice industry produced by pressing the peel. It is used as a flavouring of food and drink and for its fragrance in perfume and aromatherapy. In Spain, fallen blossoms are dried and then used to make tea. Orange leaves can also be boiled to make tea.

Peppermint Tea

• 1 teaspoon of black tea
• 1 drop Peppermint
• Add to 3 to 4 cups of hot water

Peppermint tea is a drink that is either a mixture of tea and peppermint (Mentha piperita) or a tisane (infusion) of peppermint alone and is said to have health benefits. A tea made from blending peppermint and spearmint leaves is referred to as a Doublemint tea. A tea that is solely made of peppermint leaves is caffeine-free, where as when used with black tea, caffeine is present.

Though there haven’t been any human clinical trials on either the health benefits or the risks of drinking peppermint tea, some people do believe that it has healing effects as a direct result of the menthol that it contains. Peppermint tea is said to ease a lot of stomach and digestive related problems such as irritable bowel syndrome, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. Breastfeeding mothers are sometimes recommended to drink the tea in the belief that doing so will directly benefit baby colic by passing the tea’s healing properties to their baby via the breastmilk. Other properties include; disguising bad breath due to it’s minty flavour, controlling mild asthma, managing stress and warding off the common cold. More information about peppermint tea can be found at wikipedia.