Growing and using herbs is one of the main reasons why I garden.  I grow a number of fragrant culinary herbs in my gardens.  While I use many herbs in my cooking, I have several herbs that I grow mainly for drinking in tisanes.  What’s a tisane?  Herbs + boiling water = tisane.  Commonly known as herbal tea, a tisane is made from any culinary plant that is not tea –  tea being the processed leaves of camellia sinensis.

This is a great DIY Basic, as many tisane-worthy herbs grow easily in home gardens.  If you happen to live in a mediterranean climate, like I do, the range of perennial herbs you can grow is expansive.  After your initial investment in the plant, a tisane is cost free for rest of the plant’s life — a very frugal and delicious DIY Basic indeed.

I’ll highlight the two herbs I used in the tisane featured in this post — mint and white savory.  I’m sure you’ve heard of mint, as it’s a very common herb.  There are many varieties of mint you can grow.  In this recipe, I used Spanish mint – a bold, full flavored mint.

White savory (Micromeria fruticosa) may be new to you, as it was to me when I found this delightful plant for sale at an extraordinary local nursery.

Putting these two together in a cup, covering with boiling water and then drinking — it’s better than most cups I’ve ever had made with dried leaves.   Each herb comes with it’s own scent and flavor profile, and many have historically been used to aid health.   So what are some good ones to grow and enjoy?  I’ll list a couple excellent herbs below.  There are many herbs to try and I encourage you to explore what plants you can grow and use.  I hope that this post has sparked you to try growing and using herbs for tisanes.  Enjoy!

Herbal Tisane

Put a generous handful of fresh, clean herbs in your mug or teapot.  Cover with boiling water.  Steep for  4 minutes, strain and enjoy.

Here are some easy to grow herbs for tisanes:
Mint (there are many different varieties of mint, each with its own scent profile)
Chamomile
Lemon Verbena
Thyme (many different varieties of thyme)
Lavender (some are specific strains for use in culinary applications)
White Savory
Rose petals and hips
Coriander
Lemon Balm