Herbal Drinks

Delicious beverages can be made from leaves, flowers, seed, fruits, barks and roots - in fact, almost any edible plant can be made into an herbal infusion. Often called tisanes, hot herbal teas are refreshing in their own right and are also a good caffeine- free substitute for coffee and tea. Cold herbal drinks are good thirst quenching alternatives to carbonated beverages, and don't have the calories of fruit juices.

Individual herbs such as spearmint or chamomile make fine teas by themselves, but one of the real pleasures of herbal teas come from using herb combinations. A favorites blend in Colonial times, for example, contained peppermint leaves mixed with cloves, nutmeg and dried orange or lemon peel. lemon verbena with rose petals, chamomile and rosemary was another favorite combination. When experimenting with your own mixture, decide on one predominant flavors, it's best to use a maximum of three or four herbs.

The herbs you use may be grown in your garden, bought at supermarket or purchased at a spice shop or health food shop. Dried herbs are usually quite inexpensive, especially when purchased by the ounce - and an ounce goes a long way. When stored in airtight containers in a cool, dry, dark place, most herbs will keep for about 6 months.

Collections of Herbal Drinks Recipes:

1. Ginger beer

2. Gingerade

3. Ginger-Mint Cup

4. Ginger Mintade

5. Ginger Drink

6. Korean Ginger Tea

7. Ginger-Lemon Drink