5 Herbal Beverages to Keep You Cool all Summer
When the sun is strong and the humidity is high, there’s nothing as refreshing as a delicious herbal beverage to cool you down. Our ancestors knew to make cooling drinks with the herbs that grew in their gardens and near their homes—like mint, rose, and hibiscus—and many of the recipes that we follow today have been around in some shape or form for centuries.
After years of playing around with various recipes, I’ve honed in on the five cooling herbal beverages that I turn to most often in summer. When I go foraging, I always bring water or one of these drinks with me. I also get so much joy from sharing a glass with my family, apprentices, and neighbors who stop by for a chat on the porch.
I hope you and your loved ones find as much refreshment in these herbal drinks as we have!
1. Sun Tea
Sun tea is one of the easiest herbal beverages to make, and it’s a great one to start with if you’re new to herbalism or cooking.
In its simplest form, sun tea is herbs and water placed in a closed glass jar or pitcher and left in a sunny spot to infuse for a few hours. The warmth of the sun helps speed up the infusion process and fills your herbal drink with the energy of the day.
Sun teas are as simple or as complicated as you make them.
If you want a caffeinated tea blend, then add a few tablespoons of green or black loose-leaf tea to your container (or a few tea bags, if that’s what you have on hand). For an herbal element, add a handful of peppermint, spearmint, lemon balm, basil, rosemary, lavender, or any other aromatic herb that calls to you. Top with water, and then set your container out in a bright and sunny location. After 3-5 hours have passed, strain the solids from the liquids and enjoy your sun tea at room temperature or poured over ice. This is seasonal herbalism in its simplest, most elegant form!
If you have a garden, then making sun tea can be a wonderful way to connect with your homegrown herbs. Take a quart-sized jar to the garden, and snip off a few leaves of any herbs that are healthy, vibrant, and catch your attention. Toss in a calendula flower (or a few!), some fresh tulsi leaves, a snippet of basil, and a handful of mint. Take this moment to pull a few weeds and thank the plants for the abundance they share so openly. This can become a lovely early-morning ritual that will help you develop deeper relationships with the plants you grow.
I have way too many sun tea recipes to fit within a single blog post, so I’ve compiled some of my favorites into beautiful, downloadable recipe cards that you can access at the link below.
2. Herbal Honey Lemonade
If you’ve never had an herbal lemonade, then you’re in for a real treat. The herbaceous, floral flavors of your chosen herbs will mix beautifully with the sweet honey and tart lemons for a refreshing drink that never seems to lose its charm. Yield: 1-gallon.
Ingredients
1 cup herbal honey of your choice, I particularly like lavender, lemon balm, spruce, rosemary, rose, willow, spearmint, and peppermint. Click here for instructions on how to make your own herbal honey at home.
3/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1-gallon container
Ice and distilled water to fill
Lemon wheels, as garnish (optional)
Instructions
Add the herbal honey and lemon juice to your 1-gallon container, and stir to combine.
Fill the container with as much ice as you’d like, then fill with distilled water.
Stir well, then serve with a lemon wheel on each glass as garnish.
Helpful tip: When you’re done with the lemons, use them to wipe down your sink before tossing them into your compost! Lemon brightens surfaces and leaves a naturally refreshing scent in its wake.
If you’re pressed on time, then go easy on yourself and use store-bought organic lemon juice instead.
3. Herbal Aperitif
An aperitif is an alcohol-based herbal beverage with a long and rich history dating back to at least the fifth century. It’s traditionally sipped before a meal to support digestion. (Its cousin, a “digestif” is a similar concept but is usually served after a meal.) I’m not really one for rules, so I enjoy an aperitif mixed with sparkling water, ice, and a refreshing lime anytime throughout the day that I need a bit of digestive aid. During summer, I mix cooling flowers and herbs into my aperitif recipes to lend an extra-refreshing note. Yield: 1-pint.
Aperitif Ingredients
1 cup bitter herbs of your choice, cleaned and chopped (A few of my favorites are dandelion root and leaf, burdock root, fennel seed, orange peel, and ginger.)
½ cup cooling florals of your choice to help round out the flavor. (A few of my favorites are elderflower, rose, and chamomile.)
3 Tablespoons honey
1 lemon
Vodka (enough to fill a pint-sized canning jar)
A clean, pint-sized glass jar with lid
Instructions
Combine bitter herbs with cooling florals in a clean, pint-sized glass jar.
Add honey and juice from 1 lemon, then fill the jar the rest of the way with vodka.
Cap, label, shake to combine, then store in a cool, dark place for about 6 weeks to infuse.
Every few days, shake your jar to keep the herbs fully submerged. This is a great time to infuse your aperitif with intention and heart.
After 6 weeks have passed, strain to remove the herbs and then return your finished aperitif back to your clean glass jar, or transfer to a decorative storage vessel of your choice.
To serve, sip the aperitif as-is. For a lighter version that’s lovely for summer, add 1-2 tablespoons of aperitif to a small (6- to 8-ounce) glass, top with tonic water and a few ice cubes, then finish with a squeeze of fresh lime juice. Cheers!
4. Herbal Shrubs
I adore shrubs! Popular in Colonial America, these tart and sweet herbal beverages originated as a way to preserve fruit before refrigeration existed. They combine vinegar, fruit, and herbs with a sweetener of choice. Shrubs are traditionally made with white sugar, but I swap in honey, which makes them more of an oxymel with fruit in it, if you want to get technical! Shrubs have experienced quite a resurgence lately, and you may have even seen them on a menu at a local bar or restaurant.
Shrubs are not only delicious, but they can also help your body stay hydrated. Vinegar has small amounts of electrolytes, which play a key role in keeping water balanced within your cells. You lose electrolytes when you sweat, so drinking a shrub is a smart (and delicious!) way to help your body rehydrate after working in the garden, mowing your yard, taking a hike, or doing any other sort of sweaty summer activity.
Ingredients
1/4 cup fruit of your choice, chopped (berries are wonderful in shrubs, and I also love rhubarb!)
1/4 cup herb of your choice, fresh or dried and finely chopped (cooling herbal options for summer include hibiscus, rose flower, rose hips, peppermint, lemon balm, and lavender).
1 cup vinegar of your choice (raw apple cider vinegar, balsamic vinegar, white wine vinegar, and champagne vinegar are all delicious - try experimenting to see which one you like best).
1/2 cup honey
1 pint-sized glass canning jar
Instructions
Combine all of the ingredients in a pint-sized glass canning jar, making sure the vinegar fills the jar completely.
Cap, label, and shake to combine.
Store in a cool, dark place for two weeks to infuse. Shake every few days to keep the herbs and fruit completely submerged.
After two weeks have passed, strain the solids from the liquids and transfer your liquid to a clean glass jar for storage. This is your finished shrub!
To drink, combine 1-2 tablespoons of your shrub concentrate with 6-8 ounces of sparkling water. Add a few ice cubes, garnish with fresh herbs, and enjoy! Bonus: This sweet and tangy concentrate is also delicious as a salad dressing or marinade.
Fruit and Herb Combinations That Shine in Shrubs
Strawberry and elderflower with red wine vinegar
Watermelon and basil with apple cider vinegar
Blackberries and sage with apple cider vinegar
Raspberries with raspberry leaf and apple cider vinegar
Peach and basil with apple cider vinegar
Pears (or rhubarb) and lavender with apple cider vinegar
And the list goes on!
5) Sleepy Time Iced Tea
I couldn’t possibly share 5 herbal beverages for summer without mentioning the Sleepy Time Iced Tea that I serve my little guys when they have trouble falling asleep on hot nights. It’s a lovely combination of lavender, catnip, marshmallow, and spearmint that I brew hot, add a spoonful of honey to sweeten, and then pour over ice to serve.
Quite a few of the teas that we serve hot in winter, including this Sleepy Time Tea, can double as delicious iced teas in summer.
For the exact Sleepy Time Iced Tea recipe that I serve my kiddos, see my downloadable recipe cards, below.
Download my Herbal Beverage Recipe cards!
In Closing,
Whether you need to cool your body in summer or warm it up in winter, there are so many delicious and nourishing herbal beverages to choose from. And we haven’t even started to touch the surface of herbal cocktails, mocktails, hot teas, and smoothies!
If the refreshing drinks in this blog post have captured your imagination, then don’t forget to download my Herbal Drinks Recipe Cards for even more ideas and step-by-step instructions.
Cheers, my sweet herbal friends, and thank you for being here!