Thanks! It was a plain brown cabinet before. We sanded it, repainted it, added the silver decals, took apart the glass doors and painted their decorative elements silver, replaced the handles, and filled in the holes where the old handles were. I'm really happy with it.

Very lovely!

Beautiful cabinet for tea

Do you use all the cups or just a few favorites?

I have to admit I have some very nice tea cups but most often use a coffee cup for my tea . (Holds more and easier to carry around)

Just a few favorites. I most often use a coffee cup too. But I have some glass teacups I like to use, as well as the blue cat one in the cabinet. I have a bigger teacup with cats on it as well that I like to use. One of my kitties broke it a while ago and I recently replaced it. Took a while to find another one, but happy I was able to because it's my favorite one. It has cats all over it and says "My best friend has four paws" on the inside. I don't know why, but it makes me think of Mikito, my Bengal who passed away a few years ago.

There's a little teacup with grey flowers, without a plate in the cabinet that I got intending to use. The others will probably stay as displays.

Lovely cabinet, TK. Nice collection of teapots! 🫖

I tried a tea with cream. It's called the Queen's Royal Blend and it's very tasty. There are some rose hints to it.

Sounds tasty.

Harvested a bowl of chamomile flowers for tea today. Now just have to dry them.

I love the scent and taste of chamomile! Do you also use them fresh? I'm sitting here with Melissa, catmint and clary sage tea, just plucked them from the garden. Leaves, not flowers. I keep meaning to find some true Nepeta cataria vs the various nepeta spp I have in the yard.

I've never tried it fresh. I might give it a go though. I never had my chamomile plants produce so many flowers. I had some random ones grow from the patio this year though, and they were very productive. I got a good sized bowl from them. Should last a long time.

I've had mint tea fresh off the plant before. Peppermint, strawberry mint and chocolate mint. I didn't grow mints this year though...

Just finished mixing my own blend from dry ingredients. Brewing some now.
Lavender, tulsi, peppermint, chamomile, and lemon balm.

That sounds lovely!
You've inspired me to try some fresh apple mint tea this evening. A few years ago I collected about seven mint varieties, all marked in pots. Had some health issues for a couple of seasons and now the labels are either faded or missing. Oh pooh. I can ID a few by scent and appearance, not all. Apple is distinct.

Aren't the mints hardy in your zone? Mine haven't been thinned or repotted for 2-3 years. I need to find some takers for a bunch of NOID mints, they're bursting at the seams!

The apple mint is fuzzy and quite fragrant.

They are hardy to my zone, but I grow them in pots and they don't seem to come back when in pots. Other than the chocolate mint that was in a larger pot, but that went missing this year...

Hm... haven't heard of apple mint before. Sounds refreshing though.

I had an orange mint once that was quite good. Haven't seen them for sale since though...

How would you make fresh apple mint tea? The apple mint looks gorgeous right now here.

To make any herbal tea with fresh leaves, pick a couple of stalks, remove the leaves and muddle them.
(Muddle=bruising them gently to release their flavor)

You can use a mortar and pestle, the back of a spoon in a bowl, or just rip them up and smush with your fingers. This releases the essential oils which provide the flavor. Put them in a cup, add water slightly cooled from boiling (not still bubbling). I steep 5-10 minutes. Unlike black tea, longer steeping time doesn't result in that unpleasant "stewed" flavor.

I've used a lot of words for a very simple process. It's no different from brewing any (dried) loose-leaf tea, but you need more plant material when it's fresh. I recommend an open-top strainer rather than a small closed tea ball to allow better infusion, or just put it loose in the cup or pot, then strain. Nothing about this is a rigid rule. Feel free to experiment.

I didn't finish my large cup last night and put it in the fridge. Highly recommend it cold!




Or


Two different strainers

I found where my pot of chocolate mint went. It grew back this year.

Might actually go harvest some tonight. Your posts are making me want mint tea.

Thanks, Zoe