We have written before about Lavender Moon Milk, which is similar to this tea, apart from the super addition of honey or a sweetener of choice and we added papaya to this wonderful concoction.
Why did we use these particular ingredients? Well, we all know how great honey can be.
At home, we try to use bee friendly honey where possible, we need to protect the bees where we can. So in brief, honey is:
A good source of antioxidants
By placing on wounds or bites, it has antibacterial and antifungal properties.
Help for digestive issues
Soothes a sore throat
It's a powerhouse of phytonutrients
Now we look at lavender, this beautiful flower, with it’s gorgeous blue to purple flowers and heavenly scent can be used in all sorts of culinary situations, but do make sure you purchase organic lavender if you are just buying the buds, or buy culinary grade lavender, this is to make sure that there are no pesticides or chemicals on your lavender. The tea is made from the Lavandula angustifolia plant and is found almost anywhere and may be in your garden!
Lavender tea is thought to calm nerves, lead to better sleep, improve skin health, digestive issues such as nausea, bloating, gas and upset. it may even help with headaches, and pain.
Finally, the exotic fruit that originated from South America and Mexico. The papaya is a reasonably large fruit with flesh that can be orange, yellow or reddish in colour.
The benefits of papaya are vast, it’s high in antioxidants and may help skin conditions, digestion, heart health and inflammation. We would definitely recommend that eating papaya on a daily basis may help improve your whole body system, inside and out!
So let’s now turn our heads to making this delicious, sweet, uplifting and embracing drink, it’s super easy and the syrup once made, can be stored in your fridge for up to two weeks if in an airtight jar.
Recipe
1/2 cup of rose buds
1/2 cup of papaya pieces
1/4 cup of lavender buds
1 cup of water
1/4 cup of honey or sugar
If you don’t have the rosebuds, papaya and lavender to hand, you can always buy it from us here, see below for your link.
Method
Add all ingredients to a saucepan and heat gently making sure to stir occasionally
Once a few bubbles reach the surface, allow to simmer for a couple of minutes until the water has more or less evaporated and the honey has melted into the mixture.
Allow the mixture to cool slightly and for the nutrients from the flowers and fruit to infuse into the sugar syrup, then drain through a fine sieve, try not to leave anything in the mixture if possible.
Store in an airtight jar and place into your fridge when not in use, this could last for up to two weeks.
Tea Making
Now you have your delish syrup, you can make up a cup of tea using hot water if you are not a lover of milk.
Take a desert spoon or two of the syrup and place into a cup, ( this is just dependant on taste)
Heat a milk of choice in a pan until it’s just showing a little steam, you only want the milk to be warm, not so hot you need to wait to drink the tea.
When ready, pour your milk into the cup, add more sweetness if you wish or sprinkle rose petals on the top.
If you like frothy milk and have a milk frother, this makes an awesome frothy drink, just froth the milk before adding to the syrup in the cup.
If using hot water only, bring your water to the boil, allow to cool for a few minutes then add to the sugar syrup in your cup. Wait a little until the drink is cool enough to drink.
Want to see a short video of us making the tea? Click here to view on YouTube or see below for our copy here.
As you can see from the video, it is really simple, all you need is a spare ten minutes to measure out the ingredients and warm them all through. A beautiful and helpful tea suitable for all.
Tips
If you prefer this to be free from sweetners, just add a desertspoon to a saucepan and heat through gently with milk or water until a few small bubbles rise to the surface, then reomve from the heat and leave to one side. Theen allow to infuse for ten minutes, drain and serve.