Tutorial - nettle tea.

Finally I am getting round to doing a tutorial.  I do loads of stuff but forget to photograph it so then can't do a tutorial, however I remembered to take photos whilst I was making a batch of nettle tea so thought I would share it with you.

According to teabenefits there are loads of health benefits to drinking nettle tea. 

• Nettle tea fights coughs, tuberculosis and asthma;
• Nettle tea counters arthritis, rheumatism, tendonitis and other disorders of the muscles and joints;
• Nettle tea combats a variety of intestinal disorders;
• Nettle tea fights skin problems;
• Nettle tea fights allergies like eczema, and hay fever;
• Nettle tea is used to treat urinary tract infections,

The main reason I drink it is to help with my hay fever, i helps because it contains something which is a natural anti-histamine.  It also helps with my allergic rhinitis. 

To begin with I pick some nettles.  It's important that you only pick nettles that are away from the roadside, or fields with crops that may have been sprayed .  I pick them from my allotment where they are plentiful! (Don't forget to wear gloves!)
Next I wash them really well to get rid of any insects or other nastys wearing washing up gloves to protect myself from the stings.
I then put them onto a fine ish mesh over tray and put them in a low oven,

at about 50 degrees for as long as it takes for them to go crispy, keep checking them regularly, you might even want to keep the oven door  open a little to make sure the oven doesn't get too hot.

Take them out of the oven and let them cool, then scrunch all the leaves up into little pieces so it looks like tea.  Although the nettles have now lost their sting I do this part wearing washing up gloves because they can be spikey.

I store them in a jar, they keep for ages,

Now all you need to do is make the tea itself.  I use a deep tea strainer and make it in the cup but there are allsorts of re-usable and disposable tea bags you can buy and fill yourself. 

The nettels swell up and go a lovely green. They do need to be soaked longer than regular tea to get the full flavour and benefit.

Then just drink up!  Yummy...

Hope you have a lovely bank holiday!!