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How to turn dried chamomile flowers into loose-leaf tea

Posted at 2:39 PM, Sep 06, 2019
and last updated 2019-09-06 16:39:43-04

Tea-loving Amanda Jones, here with hopefully a money-saving kitchen hack you'll love.

I happened to purchase some flowers from a local grocery store and noticed they were "chamomile!" I love chamomile tea, so when they finally past their prime in the vase, I wondered if I could harvest the still beautifully smelling flowers for tea!

The Internet said I absolutely could! Simple pull or trim off the flowers. If they are not all the way dried yet, lay them in the sun for a day! If you want to speed it up, use the oven. Set the oven on its lowest temperature. Spread the flowers out on a cookie sheet, and place in oven for several hours.

I also read you can dry them in a microwave. You can put the flowers on a paper towel and cover with another paper towel. Allow them dry anywhere from 30 seconds to 2 minutes, depending on your microwave wattage, and check them every 30 seconds to see if they are dry.

When you have totally dry flowers, put them in an airtight container until you're ready to enjoy them as tea! You can purchase reusable tea bags here or simply do what I do and use a metal loose-leaf tea holder that creates zero-waste! After you enjoy your tea, compost it so you can someday add to your future tea garden!