Raw tea or warm drink

[Autumn]

Is there such a thing as raw tea? What about ginger tea-does anyone know how to make that? I've been drinking warm lemon water or plain warm water but it's not doing the trick. Are there any other warm drinks I can make?

[ren]

I make hot herbal tea from tea bags or raw herbs I get from the health food store. Some herbs you have to simmer if they're woody stems. I use very warm water to drink lemon in the morning.

[PixieGreen]

Autumn, I empathize. I tried the warm lemon water thing for about three weeks and it simply didn't satisfy. Left my teeth fuzzy, too.

I believe sun tea would constitute raw tea. The trick is to use tea leaves that haven't been dehydrated at a too-high temp. You could grow your own and use fresh leaves [mint, lemongrass, etc]. I believe Frontier dehydrates their herbs and spices at a low temperature.

I love ginger tea! You can either juice it in a juicer then add to warm water or shred it then squeeze the pulp then let the pulp sit in the water for a few minutes, strain before drinking.

Not-raw: I love my red bush tea. I add raw herbs, ginger, and Frontier's cinnamon sticks [not all at once, different flavors for different moods]. I think I'm going to try stevia soon to find my perfect summer sun tea. Red bush needs to be simmered/ set out in the sun for a few hours to release it's many antioxidents.

Christa

[DotfromOz]

Good luck with the stevia, Christa. I think that stuff is nasty-tasting. It leaves a horrid aftertaste in my mouth. Not to mention that I was using a bundle of the stuff to get anywhere near the degree of sweetness of a teaspoon of refined sugar, despite the package's claims that it's much sweeter than sugar in equal amounts. Horse hockey, sez me.

Who knows? Perhaps it'll be terrific for you.

[PixieGreen]

Dot, how were you trying to use it? In tea, too? I just got a little bag from the bulk bin so if it doesn't work out no biggie. What I'm really trying to do is replicate a tea I had months ago, but I only bought the bulk tea bags, no packaging, so I have no idea what was in it. :)

Christa

[veggie]

I just discovered a bottled, cold raw tea by Synergy Inc. called Kombucha. It comes in a variety of flavors with a little fruit/lemon juice added. I found it at my local co-op, but haven't seen it anywhere else. It supresses appetite a little and helps with detox.

[VeganVixen]

I dont like powdered stevia (doesnt blend well and seems all after taste and no sweetness) I use bottled stevia -one bottle last for a long time ,it takes VERY little to add sweetness ,with little to no aftertaste.

[Revvell]

with the faerie on the stevia, although one must find one ya likes, as in most things. I've used Sunrider's stevia for quite some time ~ the dark one. Then they came out with the clear one. Took some getting used to yet now, I like it more.

I've gotten some from Whole Foods that I didn't like at all.

Definitely take the liquid over the powder.

As far a kombucha, isn't that made with sugar? ...and a lot of it?

Revvell

[RawTruth]

I think that stuff is nasty-tasting. It leaves a horrid aftertaste in my mouth.

Stevia is so easy to grow -- you can pretty much ignore it and it thrives. I had a plant last year -- the kids called it a sugar bush and would just pick a leaf or two and suck on it or eat it. I bought it as a teensy starter plant at Armstrong's (a California upscale nursery). I've never bought it processed. It never ever had any aftertaste at all in its natural state. Sundried it. You might want to give it a try. I'm now just using agave nectar for my sweetener needs.

[RawTruth]

Here's the website for the raw kombucha tea that Veggie mentioned. If you scroll down, you'll see the ingredient list and also their assurance that it is totally raw and not pasteurized:

naturezone.net (http://naturezone.net/)

Yes, Revvell, "real" kombucha contains sugar -- it is actually a yeast product formed from tea and sugar. Here's info on it:

Kombucha is a popular health promoting beverage and natural folk remedy made by fermenting tea. The Kombucha culture looks like a white rubbery pancake. It is a symbiotic culture of yeast and other microorganisms. The culture is placed in sweetened black or green tea and turns the tea into a sea of health giving acids and nutrients. The Kombucha culture feeds on the sugar and, in exchange, produces other valuable substances which change into the drink: glucuronic acid, glucon acid, lactic acid, vitamins, amino acids, antibiotic substances, and other products. The Kombucha culture is, therefore, a real tiny biochemical factory. Source: Günther W. Frank

However, the Synergy product states that it uses no refined sugar.

Autumn, I use organic tea leaves to make tea steeped in hot-to-the-finger water. Like warmed raw soup, it satisfies my desire for warm food. It's amazing, really, how "hot" 95-100 degrees actually is. I was always one for extremely hot beverages; I'd always order my lattes extra hot. But, really, few of us actually drink them at that temperature -- we'd have burned and peeling mouths if we did. The temp at which we drink them is very close to our "raw" temperature. As to your question about how raw tea is, I'm assuming that the only way I can absolutely know that it's not dried at high temperatures is to do it myself -- though I haven't a clue how or if I can get living black or green tea leaves (I don't think I can), so I'm just doing herbs -- mints are my favorite, and, luckily, they grow like weeds (well, weren't all plants "weeds" to begin with?).

[Autumn]

Thanks everyone for the info! As I have enough work growing my other gardens, I think I will look to the health food stores for some organic leaves for now. Thanks again! :D

[PixieGreen]

Thank you VV, Revvell and RawTruth for the stevia info. I think I'll add it to my herb garden first and go from there.

Christa

[mattiem]

Greetings. I own a tea-bar in New York City and although I'm not a raw foodist (yet) I've started looking into whether the teas we serve are not cooked or fired.

We make some of our teas as "sun teas" where you just use warm water and then let the tea sit in a jar in the window. But what I've discovered is that some teas as just dried and aged, but not fired or cooked. Also some teas like linden, rose hips, chamomile, mints, and things like sage are sometimes just dried. You can make these raw just by making them as a sun tea.

I'd love to host a raw food group meeting here - but I suppose I need to learn more about which ones are ok and which ones aren't. :)

[DotfromOz]

Dot, how were you trying to use it? In tea, too? I just got a little bag from the bulk bin so if it doesn't work out no biggie. What I'm really trying to do is replicate a tea I had months ago, but I only bought the bulk tea bags, no packaging, so I have no idea what was in it. :)

Christa

I used powdered stevia in iced tea and on various foods such as cereal and sprinkled over berries. The store where I got that didn't seem to have stevia in liquid form, so perhaps I'd like that better. Don't know, as I'd rather use small amounts of agave nectar or honey anymore.

[vegangelist]

Whole Foods carries the Kombucha, at least in Houston they do, so I would imagine elsewhere too.

i find the flavor a bit disturbing, trying to get over it tho. i tried the gingerade and the berry/ginger varieties, hoping that it would cover the fermented taste. basically, it tastes like ginger or berry flavored rejuvelac which i have not yet been able to develop a taste for. but, it is not disgusting either. i just found it to be more something that i was drinking b/c it was good for me, not b/c i really liked the taste of it. but, perhaps it will grow on me.

kristi

[rawpriestess]

Hi,

my hubby picks camomile from the medow every morning for my tea, he makes it with finger warm water and it is great.(as long as you can put your finger in the water, it is low enough temperature to be raw)

We grow kentucky mint, chocolate mint, stevia, lavendar, and hundreds of herbs etc.

We take cayenne (this will make any tea taste hot--I love it) and grated ginger, marjorum, oregano, cloves, cinnamon, and fruit juice, let it sit in the fridge, it is a wonderful spiced fruit punch, and you can just keep adding juice to the spice.

We make sun tea with mint leaves and water and leave it in the sun. YUM

The best thing is to try different things, and if you like your tea to taste hot, then add a little black pepper or cayenne, it works for me.

I personally grow stevia to put into almond milk and make shakes, I also have the liquid kind, but don't use it much anymore.

I've never tried the powder kind.

[RawTruth]

I've started looking into whether the teas we serve are not cooked or fired.

Greetings and welcome, Mattiem.

The question that has come up repeatedly on this forum is how can we be assured that tea leaves (whether loose or bagged) that we buy have not been dried by heat over approx. 110 degrees. Do we need to contact the manufacturer of every tea we're considering buying? That seems like the only option.

[Autumn]

Rawpriestess,

Can I move in with you? :D

[VeganVixen]

Rawpriestess,

Can I move in with you? :D


ditto! (we are all thinking it)

[rawpriestess]

YES, you may all move in.

we have a place on a lake in the mountains, with plenty of parking, and lots of gardens, and if you saw a pic of my hubby, you would REALLY want to move in, you can see his pic on our website.
www.theenchanted-castle.com
go to "dragggon" and you'll see my gorgeous luscious manly man. in his ritual atire, all decked out in his furs. (I don't wear or eat animals, but he does).

[VeganVixen]

Once I get out of this hellhole of a town and go to college ( probably later this year ) and estblish my self(find a job ,I will either be living with my cool other family or "adopted other mother/best freind/sister/ and former employer at her metaphysical,healthfood,art combo store) and get away from my conservitive baptist parents I WOULD LOVE TO TAKE SOME CLASSES FROM YOU-PAGANISM HAS BEEN CALLING ME

I know this because my former boss was a pagan and we bonded immediatley -before this I was rejected by my parents and everyone in this small town for being the "the strange goth girl" -now Im more balanced and not trying to "prove that I dont care" by pushing people away -black still my favorite color-also purple

but since my mentor left (I lived with her for six months ) because of parent "complications" I am not "allowed" to go live with her until may,and I have felt a VERY strong need to get more into paganism since then and I miss the comfort of belonging when I was around the crystals , runes ,tarot cards ,pendulums , incense ,sage and other ritual items -I cant say anything to my parents about this (when I told them I wasnt a christian ,but respected christ.... THEY FREAKED)!!!!

I dont know why I shared this all with you but IT REALLY SEEMED RIGHT.......botton line.... I would LOVE to go up later when I can, and see your place and possibly take a class or two!

what is your organic gardening class like? and will it be offered next year?

[RawTruth]

my gorgeous luscious manly man. in his ritual atire, all decked out in his furs

Okay, I peeked. Does he have a brother?

[jjthad]

undefined
hello
:confused: about how a raw tea is made
all you have to do is blend the tea with water
and squeeze strain though a stocking or cheesecloth
mint tea has never been so flavorful and good
for sassafrass which i collect in the wild up here in the berkshires massachussetts
i take a sharp knife and at a 90 degree angle to the branch I scrape off the bark
i take that inner bark" and blend that with however strong amount of water i want and/or other ingredients like honey, apples, cloves, ginger, chai spices
and then squeeze the blended mix through the cloth and drink
its great
being raw i am finally finding uses for all the dried plants i have been from collecting over the last couple of years
hope that is your answer jesse james