Honeysuckle sun tea
Honeysuckle tea is as sweet as honeysuckle on the vine. If you like sweet tea, then you're going to love honeysuckle tea.
Today I will be showing you how I make homemade honeysuckle sun tea in a sun jar. For my recipe, I don't add any Splenda or sugar because the honeysuckle is naturally sweet.
This tea takes all day to make, so it's something you should begin making early in the morning.
When you pick the blossoms for honeysuckle tea, do so without picking any of the green leaves or stems. The rest of the plant may be toxic to consume. The variety I am using is the yellow and white Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica).
Honeysuckle sun tea
Ingredients:
3 cups of honeysuckle blossoms
3 ½ cups of hot water
1 sun jar is also needed to make this recipe. However, if you don't have a sun jar, this recipe can be made inside on the stovetop. Just steep the honeysuckle blossoms in the hot water.
The jar that I prefer using for making honeysuckle tea is in a vintage half gallon square Drey jar. However, if interested, you can purchase solar sun jars for sun tea.
Instructions:
First, go outside and pick some honeysuckle blossoms. Remember that you should always rinse the blossoms off to wash off any bugs and other pollutants before making the tea.
In a tea kettle, add the water and bring it to a boil.
Add the blossoms to a sun jar, pour the hot water over the blossoms, place the lid on the jar. Now set the jar outside in the sun.
After a couple of hours have passed, stir the mixture or give the jar a good shake. Place the lid back on the jar and allow the honeysuckle to steep for the rest of the day.
Once the sun has gone down, bring the honeysuckle tea inside. Open the jar and stir the blossoms around in the liquid one last time. Then taste. If the tea is strong enough and sweet to your preference, remove the blossoms with a slotted spoon.
Otherwise, if the tea isn't as strong and sweet as you prefer, the honeysuckle blossoms can stay in the sun jar overnight.
Place the jar inside the refrigerator to allow the tea to become chilled. Serve over ice cubes and enjoy!
Notes:
I don't add any type of sweetener to my honeysuckle tea because in my opinion it doesn't need it. However, your preferences may be different from that of mine. Add sweetener if it's what you desire.
Women who are pregnant, or trying to conceive, and or are lactating should not drink this Japanese honeysuckle tea.
Resources:
Healthy Immune Support with Honeysuckle Tea (Lonicera Japonica) - Bravo Tea. (2022). Retrieved 19 May 2022, from https://www.bravotea.com/healthy-immune-support-with-honeysuckle/
Martinez Centelles, V. (2022). Honeysuckle toxicity. Retrieved 19 May 2022, from https://www.botanical-online.com/en/medicinal-plants/honeysuckle-toxicity
Cochran, A. (2022). Is Honeysuckle Poisonous?. Retrieved 19 May 2022, from https://homeguides.sfgate.com/honeysuckle-poisonious-57584.html
Scott, C. (2022). Medicinal Plant: Japanese Honeysuckle. Mason.gmu.edu. Retrieved 19 May 2022, from http://mason.gmu.edu/~cscottm/plants.html.