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Raw Food Recipe: A Nutritious Fresh Nettle Tea Infusion!

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Following on from Matthew Gaffney’s exploration into teas from a raw diet perspective, we have a delicious recipe for a nettle tea infusion from another raw foodie for you!

Fresh Nettle Tea

by Joanna Steven

Firstly, Is Tea Raw?

Tea isn’t raw, of course, but it is very warming and, when done correctly, can be full of nutrition as well.

Nettle Tea Infusion

“I’m a raw vegan who chooses to drink herbal teas. Some don’t, but especially when it is cold out, I feel the hot drink really makes a difference in my clean, quick, cold running blood. In the summer though, I get a charge out of steeping my tea using the sun instead of the kettle. It takes a bit longer, but is well worth it. And for some (obvious?) reason, drinking tea warmed by the sun holds a pound of energy and ton of delight.” Tonya Kay

 

It can be your best friend in the winter, when you feel like warming up a bit before your raw meal.

One of the best warm beverages you can make is a nettle infusion!

The Health Benefits of Nettle Tea

According to Samuel Thayer in the excellent book The Forager’s Harvest: A Guide to Identifying, Harvesting, and Preparing Edible Wild Plants:

“Nettles are extremely nutritious. They are high in vitamin C, very high in Vitamin A, and according to some sources are higher in protein than any other known green vegetable. They are also high in calcium, potassium, magnesium, and iron (Brill, 1994). Nettles are so eminently nutritious that without their chemical protection, they would be quickly annihilated by hungry herbivores. Deer will scour nettle patches and pluck off those occasional leaves, branches, or even plants that are devoid of stingers. If the deer figure out how to cook, the nettles are going to be in big trouble.”

Method for making a nettle tea infusion

So, how do we go about making an infusion out of them?

  • Fresh nettle tea infusionFirst, get the freshest, most delicious dried stinging nettles.
  • Place a cup of them into a tea kettle, and cover with 4 cups of boiled, filtered water (or better yet, spring water).
  • Let the nettles work their magic until the liquid is cool, strain it, and store it in the fridge – or drink it all right away!
  • I like to reheat the drink slightly, and stir a little raw honey into it. You can also sweeten it by stirring a teaspoon or so of dried goji berries.

Delicious, nutritious, and warming too!

If you’re an avid raw foodie, don’t despair: most teas will steep in the sun or even in room temperature water, but this takes longer and the tea will not be as strong, says Matt in Hot Tea in the Raw World.

Make other tea infusions

You can follow the same method for nearly every plant out there, like red raspberry leaves.

Teas and infusions will also ensure that you stay hydrated.

Most of us know to drink enough in the summer, and forget to do so in the winter, but it is important to get enough fluids throughout the year to keep a healthy, rosy complexion even when sunshine is scarce!

Joanna Steven is a freelance writer and was published in Get Fresh!, the Raw Divas blog, the Raw Mom blog, and more. She is the co-author with raw vegan celebrity Tonya Kay of the Raw Nutritional Analysis series , a series of eBooks detailing Tonya Kay’s diet throughout the seasons with full nutritional breakdown of the recipes.

Tera’s Teas

Try our new herbal tea blends available from our store.

Sensuali-Tea: Put aside your “to do list” for a while and pick up a cup of this! Our Sensuali-Tea will leave you purring with an invitation to let yourself go…

Sereni-Tea: The perfect bedtime buddy to help you sip your way to sweet dreams!

Integri-Tea: Our favorite tea to help overcome cravings and late night eating!