Fresh herbs add punch to iced teas
Sept. featuring free herb programs, refreshments and plant saleThat's Kathy Burke Mihalczo's philosophy when it comes to choosing herbs to blend with tea.
Some of her favorite herb flavors are basil, lemon verbena, spearmint and peppermint, but she's game for experimenting with other varieties.
"I love to try different things and coach bags canada this is just fun to do," she said.
At a recent culinary class, Burke Mihalczo, owner of Erin's Meadow Herb Farm, Clinton, showcased recipes for orange mint cooler, sage punch, honeydew mint basil cooler, cinnamon basil tea and rosemary lemonade. She also let the students taste a sun tea that was made with pineapple sage and lemon cheap michael kors bags uk balm herbs.
To make sun tea "you just fill the jar with water, add the herbs and let sit in the sun eight to 10 hours," she said. Before serving, strain the water to remove herbs and pour over ice.
Burke Mihalczo gets recipe ideas from a variety of sources, then tweaks the flavors until it satisfies her palate.
Black tea is what she uses as a base, but she urged the students to try other teas, like oolong, gucci borse 2013 prezzi green and pre flavored teas like those sold by Celestial Seasonings.
"You can use a combination of herbs or just one kind to blend with them," she said.
And once blended, the flavor of the tea can change dramatically by adding fruit juice.
For instance, the cinnamon basil tea that she made had a faint licorice borse gucci outlet flavor to it, but that totally disappeared when she added apple juice to the mixture.
"When you blend the tea with fruit juices you make an herbal fruit cooler," she said.
Herbs added to alcohol is another way to flavor beverages.
She said to add the herb of choice to vodka, tequila, rum or brandy and let it infuse for a couple of weeks before using. However it's important to check the mixture daily because some herbs deteriorate in alcohol quicker than others. If that happens, strain the liquid and add more herbs.
"I love using any of the lemon herbs in vodka," she said.
Growing herbs for a living gives Burke Mihalczo a larger selection of flavors than most, but it's easy to start your own herb tea garden.
However many herbs that she used during the class are available at your local market.
Regardless of where you get them, all herbs should be washed, with damaged leaves removed, before they are used.
"They collect dust in the garden, so several rinsings, and removing bad leaves before they are used is very important," she said.
The herb will automatically secrete its natural oils when placed in hot or boiling water, but when prepared in a cold process, as in the honeydew mint basil cooler recipe, the herb's leaves should be bruised to help release its natural oils.
All the recipes featured today contain sugar, but she said a sugar substitute would probably work just as well. However, if the recipe calls for fruit juice, keep in mind the concentrated variety already contains sugar.
She also said each beverage recipe tastes good served warm or cold.
If serving cold, she recommends adding a decorative touch to the ice.
For instance, the sage punch featured an ice ring with calendula flowers and sage leaves frozen inside, while another set of ice cubes included tiny rose geranium flowers. All were edible.