The Mistake That's Making Your Tea Less Nutritious, From An Herbalist
Some things in life are worth waiting for.
MikeTyes
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December 10, 2024
mbg Contributor
Emma Loewe is the former Sustainability and Health Director at mindbodygreen. She is the author of "Return to Nature: The New Science of How Natural Landscapes Restore Us" and the co-author of "The Spirit Almanac: A Modern Guide To Ancient Self Care." Emma received her B.A. in Environmental Science & Policy with a specialty in environmental communications from Duke University. In addition to penning over 1,500 mbg articles on topics from the water crisis in California to the rise of urban beekeeping, her work has appeared on Grist, Bloomberg News, Bustle, and Forbes.
Image by Chelsea Victoria / Stocksy December 10, 2024 We carefully vet all products and services featured on mindbodygreen using our Our selections are never influenced by the commissions earned from our links. Every tea drinker will have their own approach to brewing up the perfect cup. But according to herbalist, author of The Herbal Kitchen, and expert in all things tea Kami McBride, there is one crucial part of the process that many people get wrong—and we're missing out on some key nutritional benefits because of it.
Why you should steep herbal tea for 15 minutes
On a recent call with mbg, McBride noted that she sees many people steeping their herbal tea bags for just a minute or two before taking their first sip. While there's nothing wrong with doing a quick steep, she notes that letting your tea sit for longer can unlock more flavor and nutritional benefits.
This rings especially true if you're using tea bags instead of loose-leaf herbs. McBride explains that when you crush up herbs to form the small pieces that go into bags, you increase their surface area and expose them to more oxygen, which can dull their flavor. "It's much less potent because of how it's stored," McBride says of herbal tea in a bag.
While it can depend on the type of tea ("true teas" like black, green, and oolong each have their own unique steep times), McBride says you'll want to let most herbal brews sit for 15 minutes. This should leave enough time for the antioxidant-rich polyphenols, the plant compounds1 that make herbal teas so healthy, to completely come through in your cup.
After McBride encouraged me to experiment with different steep times, I took to my kitchen and made two identical cups of chai rooibos: one sat for 2 minutes, the other 15. The difference between a quick dip and a longer steep became clear right away.
2-minute steep (left), 15-minute steep (right)
Image by Emma Loewe / contributor
The long steep's color was many shades darker, while its smell was actually a bit more muted. (The volatile compounds2 that give tea its aroma tend to be the first to fade into the air.) The taste was much richer and—to borrow a wine term—full-bodied. I could pick up on more of the tea's spices and flavors the longer I sipped, whereas the 2-minute steep was pretty one-note. Count me a convert!
How to steep the perfect cup of herbal tea
The takeaway
Whether you're sipping on lemon balm to calm your nerves or ginger to soothe the stomach, be sure to steep your herbal tea for 15 minutes to reap all of its benefits. Take it from an herbalist: Some things in life are worth waiting for.
