Dried Lemon Balm Tea Recipe

A favorite herb among herbalists, soothing and tasty lemon balm is a top choice for encouraging relaxation and better sleep. Here’s what to know about sourcing lemon balm and making lemon balm tea from either fresh or dried lemon balm leaves.

Delicious lemon balm tea may be made with either fresh lemon balm or dried herb, though they taste quite different. Herbalists note that the medicinal properties of lemon balm may be stronger in an infusion made from dried lemon balm leaf, but using more fresh lemon balm and a longer steep time can help extract more of this fragrant herb’s compounds.

Studies have shown lemon balm can help alleviate stress and improve mood. Studies looking at a combination of lemon balm and valerian have found it effective for addressing insomnia.

How To Dry Lemon Balm: 11 Steps (with Pictures)

Rich in antioxidants, lemon balm tea was found in one study to reduce DNA damage from radiation. Add lemon balm tea to your list of top superfoods to consume regularly!

Herbalist Maria Noel Groves notes in Body into Balance that lemon balm not only calms and improves mood and cognitive function, it also helps digestion. Perfect for winding down after dinner!

A mild anti-viral, lemon balm is also used for treating cold sores. It’s also considered one of many cooling herbs that can help your body cope with hot weather.

Super Healing Cold Sore Lip Balm

Find out more about the many benefits of and uses for lemon balm aside from lemon balm tea. If you want to have the benefits of lemon balm at the ready, consider tincturing some of your fresh lemon balm. Here’s an easy lemon balm tincture recipe.

Love learning about green living hacks and medicinal plants? Follow on Pinterest or like on Facebook to keep up with the new ones I share every day!

The leaf is the primary part of the lemon balm plant used in tea, but if you’re harvesting from your garden, you can use the stem and flower as well. Lemon balm blossoms are just one of many flowers you can eat to enjoy this season.

How To Harvest And Dry Lemon And Lime Balm

Most people use the word tea as a shorthand for a liquid brewed from plants, but herbalists distinguish between teas and infusions. Teas typically use less plant material and have a shorter brew time. When we’re trying to extract the maximum amounts of medicinal compounds from plants, we use more and leave them to steep longer.

I generally prefer to make strong infusions and dilute them with water if needed. In the hours before bedtime, it’s helpful to drink something more concentrated so you don’t disturb your sleep by needing to get up in the night.

Groves writes that lemon balm is “generally quite safe, but it should be used in pregnancy only with supervision and may (rarely) aggravate hypothyroid disease.”

Citrus Serenity Green Tea

Like most herbs, there’s been little study of their safety for pregnant women, so most sources advise avoiding lemon balm during pregnancy.

Some people may be allergic to lemon balm. As with any herb you’re trying for the first time, start with a very small amount to check that you don’t have a reaction.

Want to learn more about using medicinal plants like lemon balm? Here are some of the best herbal medicine books for your herbal reference library. You might also consider taking one of the info-packed herbal courses offered by the Herbal Academy.

Lemon Balm Tea

I highly recommend growing your own lemon balm, either in a medicinal herb garden or a perennial bed. Its bright green leaves make it a beautiful accent plant, and as with most other mints it requires very little care beyond trying to keep it under control.

Lemon balm doesn’t spread as aggressively as common mint, but those in warmer climates report that it can be a bit invasive if you aren’t vigilant about cutting it back before it flowers.

If you want to grow lemon balm in your garden, I recommend getting a plant division from a fellow gardener to get you started (one of my favorite ways to get plants free). If you don’t have any plant donors in your area, you can buy a starter plant or a seed packet, which will contain far more lemon balm seeds than you’ll ever need. Be sure to share them with other herb-loving gardeners.

How To Harvest And Dry Mint And Lemon Balm For Herbal Tea {with Video}

The flavor of lemon balm tea made from fresh lemon balm leaves rather than dried is brighter and more lemony, but both are very tasty. I make the most of the fresh lemon balm during our not very long growing season and rely on dried lemon balm the rest of the year.

If I had surplus lemon balm, I would dry my own, but I use everything I can grow fresh. Here’s what to know about preserving herbs if you want to try.

Because I drink it pretty much every night and can’t grow enough to span the entire year, I buy dried lemon balm leaf in bulk. You can also buy it in smaller amounts, or buy lemon balm tea bags, but you’ll save a lot buying lemon balm loose. A pound bag of dried lemon balm makes dozens of large pots of tea, usually lasting me through nearly two winters.

How To Make Lemon Balm Tea • Soothing And Relaxing!

A bagged lemon balm tea blend worth considering: On an extended trip in Europe I discovered a really yummy and very effective nighttime tea to stand in for my usual lemon balm brew, since traveling with enough loose tea to last 2 1/2 months isn’t very practical.

A cool British company called Clipper makes a blend called “Snore and Peace“ — and it’s organic and easy to get online! It has chamomile and lavender as well as lemon balm, and it’s become my new favorite for travel or for nights when I’ve forgotten to make my usual lemon balm tea.

Lemon balm tea tastes wonderful on its own, but I like to combine it with other herbs for sleep like chamomile, catnip, and scullcap. (Vitacost has the best deal on scullcap; but if you prefer, here’s some for sale at Amazon as well.)

Spiced Lemon Balm Chamomile Tea Recipe

During the growing season, I’ll collect fresh lemon balm leaves and add in some wild violets, yarrow, and catnip from the garden. Here’s what to know about the often confused catnip vs catmint if you’re not sure what you’ve got growing in your garden.

In winter, I keep a jar of roughly half chamomile and half lemon balm, and add a few spoonsful of nettle leaf, oatstraw, or scullcap for additional herbal benefits. You can find recipes for several different ways to make lemon balm tea below.

You can save yourself some time and fuss by making enough lemon balm tea to last a few nights. I use a teapot that holds about a quart of tea, and drink about a third of it every night, keeping the extra in the refrigerator after I’ve strained it. It’s helpful to have one less thing to do those other evenings!

Tea Time: Lemon Balm Tea

However, some herbalists recommend consuming teas and infusions within 24 hours, so you can choose to make less at a time if you prefer. Here’s more on the shelf life of herbal preparations from Herbal Academy.

You can make your lemon balm tea a whole lot better for you by making sure the water you brew it with isn’t full of industrial chemicals. Find out what to know about choosing an effective water filter.

Lemon balm tea is delicious anytime, but for promoting relaxation and sleep, drink a cup or two of lemon balm tea a few hours before bed.

All About Lemon Balm And Lemon Balm Tea Recipe

Variation 1: You can also use lemon balm in a tasty sun tea. The lower water temperature doesn't extract flavor as readily, so we use about 1 1/2 cups of lemon balm leaves in 3 cups of water. Here are more details on how to make sun tea.

Variation 2: Cold infusion. You can make a lighter flavor tea, a flavored water really, by steeping a few sprigs of fresh lemon balm in cool water. Cold infusions extract medicinal and flavor compounds differently. Here's more on cold infusions from Herbal Academy.

Some herbalists make much stronger infusions, using 1/4 cup or more dried herbs per cup of water. You'll get a much heftier dose of whatever you brew this way, but the flavor might be overpowering. Try different ratios to find what suits you best.

Lemon Balm Tea Recipe, How To Make Lemon Balm Tea Recipe

Nutritional information was auto-generated based on serving size, number of servings, and typical information for the ingredients listed. To obtain the most accurate representation of the nutritional information in a given recipe, please calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients and amounts used, using your preferred nutrition calculator. Under no circumstances shall this website or author be responsible for any loss or damage resulting for your reliance on the given nutritional information. You are solely responsible for ensuring that any nutritional information provided is accurate and complete.

Lemon balm is also delicious blended with other relaxing herbs like chamomile, oatstraw, catnip, and lavender. Experiment with different herbs to find your favorite.

You can also include oatstraw, nettle, catnip, or passionflower in addition to or instead of one the herbs above. Spearmint can add a pleasant flavor as well.

Organic Dried Lemon Balm Tea

Get more practical ways to live greener and