How to dry your own MINT and make TEA

How to dry your own mint and make tea | Once Upon a Time in a Bed of Wildflowers

Only grow mint in pots, they told me.

It will take over your yard, they told me.

Good! I thought. I could use something that is largely indestructible in my gardens. Plus the bees like it.

So… This summer the mint might, or might not, have taken over the back yard.

Either way, I had plenty of mint to dry for mint tea!

Sort of like growing mint, drying mint is kind of idiot proof.

Dog and Mint | Once Upon a Time in a Bed of Wildflowers

Take yourself, something to put the mint in, and a pair of scissors outside. A dog is neither necessary, nor helpful in this process.

Dog and Stolen Mint | Once Upon a Time in a Bed of Wildflowers

 See? This is the dog and the mint she stole.

Mint | Once Upon a Time in a Bed of Wildflowers

Snip off as much mint as you want to deal with. I usually harvest my mint twice: In the Spring when I am ruthlessly trying to pull out enough mint so that some other things can grow in my garden, and in the Fall when things are dying anyway.

Word of warning: If you are foraging for mint, make sure that what you are harvesting actually IS mint, and not something else which may, or may not, be toxic. Also make sure that it has not been sprayed with chemicals.

Mint | Once Upon a Time in a Bed of Wildflowers  Rinse the mint well.

I have a dog. Enough said.

I also have two children… who probably don’t pee in the garden.

I shake the mint to dry it, and lay it out on towels for a little while. It shouldn’t be dripping… but it doesn’t have to be dry, either. (We are drying the mint here, after all!)

Drying Mint | Once Upon a Time in a Bed of Wildflowers

Bind the mint into bundles. All the of mint stems in the bundles should be approximately the same size. For one thing, it looks neater, but it also keeps little stems from hiding under larger ones and possibly molding. Tape the bundles to something high enough that they won’t be in the way. These are taped to cupboard doors.

Wait.

Drying Mint | Once Upon a Time in a Bed of Wildflowers

 Wait some more.

Dried Mint | Once Upon a Time in a Bed of Wildflowers

Eventually the mint will become dry and crumbly. This mint has been drying for about three months. It might have been ready after two, but procrastination is the key–you don’t want to store it before it is completely dry.

Plus having drying bundles of herbs hanging in your kitchen makes it look cool and homestead-y.

Dried Mint | Once Upon a Time in a Bed of Wildflowers

Crumble the leaves and smaller stems off the larger stems.

Store dried mint in a Mason Jar | Once Upon a Time in a Bed of Wildflowers

Store the dried mint in a mason jar (like these *affiliate link). This batch made a little less than a quart of dried mint. 

Now you are ready to make tea.

It is especially nice to have your own, homemade tea, because much of the tea you can buy at the store is sprayed with pesticides, and contain artificial flavors, so-called natural favors, and GMOs. Not cool!

Mint Tea | Once Upon a Time in a Bed of Wildflowers

 

This post was shared at Simply Natural Saturdays, The Homestead Blog Hop, Thank Goodness It’s Monday at Nourishing Joy, Mostly Homemade Mondays, Natural Living Monday, Food Renegade’s Fat Tuesday, Tuned-in Tuesday at Healthy Roots, Happy Soul, Crafty Garden Mama’s Tuesday Greens, Urban Naturale’s Healthy, Happy Green & Natural Blog Party Hop, Whimsy Wednesday, and Wildcrafting Wednesday. And at Thank Your Body ThursdayThe HomeAcre Hop, Small Footprint Friday, Fight Back Friday, Simple Meals FridayNatural Family Friday, and Real Food Fridays. And at Om Nom Ally’s Weekend Wholefood Blender Party. And the Scratch & Dig Blog Hop.

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Dry your own mint without a dehydrator... then make a nice cup of tea with it! || Once Upon a Time in a Bed of Wildflowers

 

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37 Responses to How to dry your own MINT and make TEA

  1. vickie says:

    Oh -I have mint too. Your tea sounds wonderful.
    Mint smells so good when you walk by I guess it’s okay for it to take over a little bit!

  2. Heather says:

    Love it! I love mint tea. I am definitely planting mint this year. Thank you for showing how to dry it then make tea.

    Heather

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  4. Laura P. says:

    Thank you for this. I love mint tea when I’m having digestive issues.

  5. Laura says:

    Well, that looks super easy! I’ll be planning on planting some mint this year for sure! Love tea and that it’s homemade will be all the better 🙂 Thank you for posting this.

  6. I can’t imagine a more satisfying experience than sipping a mug of homemade, dried mint tea! It takes me back to times spent in the tea cafés in Morocco, where fresh mint tea is like the national drink! It is so soothing! Thank you so much for sharing this process with us on the Healthy, Happy, Green & Natural hop!

    • onceuponatimeinabedofwildflowers says:

      Oooh! I had forgotten about Moroccan mint tea! I think it’s (past) time to bust out my Moroccan cookbook and come up with something to go with it! 🙂

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  8. Home grown and dried mint always makes the best tea! Thanks for the easy instructions and great photos, it’s wonderful to see the process from start to finish 🙂
    I’ve recently started a blog party focused on wholefood drink recipes including home remedies and I would love if you would ever like to link up in the future. It’s called the Weekend Wholefood Blender Party and runs every Sunday to promote smoothies, juices, herbal teas, fermented beverages and home remedies. Have a fabulous week and thank you for such an informative post and recipe!

  9. Fayne says:

    You have suggestions for natural, homemade deodorant, do you have any suggestions for natural, homemade laundry soap and/or softener?

  10. lydiaf says:

    I’ve been drinking a lot of mint tea this winter Loved this tutorial. Thanks for linking to Real Food Fridays 🙂

  11. Jaye Anne says:

    I absolutely love mint tea! I have noticed that when I grow and brew my own tea, it is not nearly as minty as those tea bags I can purchase at the store. Am I doing something wrong or is the store-bought tea spiked with something to keep the mint flavor? Love your blog!

    • onceuponatimeinabedofwildflowers says:

      I’m so glad you stopped by! 🙂

      To answer your question… you are probably not doing anything wrong. 😉
      Some tea companies *do* put things in their tea… like “natural” flavors… to enhance the flavor of the tea. Others probably just take the time to use the mintiest mint and harvest it at just the right time for the best flavor.
      Personally, I don’t like my mint tea to be shockingly minty to this ratio works for me. Maybe you could try adding another 1/2 – 1 teaspoon of mint, or letting it steep longer to give it a stronger mint flavor.
      Hope this helps!

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  13. Sandra says:

    I love herbal tea and mint, so win-win 🙂
    Thanks for sharing your post at the HomeAcre Hop!
    This will be my featured post tomorrow 🙂

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  15. Thanks for sharing once again on Real Food Fridays, I’m featuring your post tonight. I’m also pinning it to my organic garden board, I was given some mint last spring and did not harvest it this year, but will next year. I know what you mean about it taking over the yard, better than weeds.

  16. I grow mint every year, in containers, and love it in salads and Indian food but I have never dried it or used it for tea. I love this idea and will definitely try it this year. I’ll bet it would be great combined with ginger. Thanks so much for sharing!

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  18. I hope to grow enough mint for my winter tea this year. I love your golden.

    • onceuponatimeinabedofwildflowers says:

      Thank you! I love her, too. And she’s usually a good sport about modeling for blog pictures! 🙂
      Mint is easy to grow… but it *will* take over your yard if you let it!

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