How to Make Lemongrass Tea

This tropical, perennial grass grows well in outdoor garden as well as in containers. Lemongrass is widely used as a culinary herb, medicine, and also, for deterring mosquitoes naturally.

To reap the health benefits of lemongrass, you can use it for making tea, soups, and a plethora of dishes. Here, we shall focus on benefits of having this tea, and how to make lemongrass tea at home.

Lemongrass has been associated with traditional healing since a long time. The active ingredients provide astringent, sedative, calming, diuretic, insecticidal, antimicrobial, antipyretic, carminative, galactagogue, and antidepressant benefits. In simpler words, lemongrass tea is a natural diuretic and aids in removing excess fluid from the body.

It relieves gas problem, aids in digestion, soothes stomach cramps, reduces acne outbreaks, minimizes infection risks, and increases milk secretion in breastfeeding mothers. Drinking lemongrass tea is also beneficial to treat menstrual cramps and arthritis pain.

Just by sipping lemongrass tea, you can enjoy the mild lemony ginger flavor and innumerable health benefits of this herb. And brewing a soothing lemongrass tea is very easy. All you need is to infuse this herb in boiling water for some time. If available, harvest fresh plant right from your garden or container to flavor tea.

For those of you who cannot manage to get fresh plant, use dried lemongrass. Presented below are some easy recipes for making this tea.

Ingredients

• Lemongrass leaves, 2 (fresh)
• Water, 1 cup (boiling)
• Sweetening agent for taste (optional)

Directions

Rinse the leaves under running tap to remove dust and dirt (if any).

Using a pair of clean scissors, cut the leaves into ½ inch length pieces. Add them in a teapot or a mug. Pour boiling water over the pieces, cover lid and steep for 5-10 minutes. Strain lemongrass tea and, if desired, you can add sweetener before serving.

Ingredients

• Lemongrass leaves, 2 tsp. (dried)
• Water, 1 cup (boiling)
• Honey or other sweetening agent (optional)

Directions

Similar to the above tea recipe with fresh lemongrass leaves, boil a cup of water and keep it ready.

Add 2 teaspoons dried leaves (already crushed) in a saucepan. To this, pour boiling water and cover with a lid. Leave this mixture for steeping, at least for 10-15 minutes to get best flavor. Using a strainer, strain lemongrass tea, and stir in honey or sugar. You can also add milk for making milk tea. Serve it hot.

Ingredients

• Lemongrass leaves, ½ cup
• Water, 2 cups
• Honey for taste

Directions

This method is for making cold lemongrass tea, which you will love having as a cool summertime drink. 

Instead of hot water, cold water is used in this recipe. Hence, you will need lemongrass in large amounts to enjoy a strong flavored tea. Clean fresh lemongrass leaves, and cut them into pieces with a pair of scissors. Add ½ cup lemongrass in a large teapot, and pour 2 cups water over it.

Steep for half an hour or more, and serve with honey. Another method of enjoying cold tea is to pour hot lemongrass tea over crushed ice, and serve.

If you are having it for health aspects, reduce the use of processed sugar. Instead you can sweeten with a small amount of honey or molasses. To be on the safer side, avoid drinking excess lemongrass tea, as it is diuretic and therapeutic in action.

While there are no major side effects of this herbal tea, too much of anything is harmful for health. So, keep these simple things in mind, and enjoy flavorful lemongrass tea regularly.