Iced and Herbed Tea

We Filipinos have a knack for "pasalubongs". I dont know any exact equivalent English word for it. But the closest I can think of is present or gift. Pasalubongs are given by a person who traveled to a different locality or country and would bring some presents or pasalubong to one's friend or family once he/she comes back home.  The prized pasalubongs are those that are not readily available here in our country or locality. Like my cousin who arived from the USA some months ago, she brought home Bath and Body products - lotions, colognes and hand sanitizers. Thanks, Sheelah for my Berry Twinkle hand gel. It's that hand gel that can be hung like a bag charm. Although these items are available here in the Philippines, they can be a bit pricey. 

I mentioned pasalubongs today because I just got one from my office mate. Her husband works overseas in Abu Dhabi, came back home some months ago and of course brought home a box load of chocolates, coffees and teas. Those goodies have all long gone but only the tea bags are what's left. She's not a big fan of tea after all . Instead of having those fine black tea go to waste, my office mate shared her tea bags with us. 

But I'm afraid that in the next pasalubong box, my office mate might not share her tea  with us anymore. I shared with her some tea recipes that I have tasted in a Thai restaurant, Lemon Grass. Just a disclaimer, this is not the restaurant's exact recipe but here is my own rendition of some tasty iced and herbed tea. After a few tries and mistakes, I got my tea to taste the same with that of the expensive version.  I like them iced but they can be taken hot too, I guess. (I'm using tea bags, adjustments will have to be made if using tea leaves.)

Black Tea (or any tea of preference)

Lemongrass 

Lemon

Honey (optional)

A cup of water (for each tea bag)

Bring water to a rolling boil and turn off heat. Steep together the tea and lemon grass. Cover the pot for a few minutes. This can be taken hot but I like mine iced. So I put some ice cubes (wait for the tea to cool off a bit before adding in ice) and squeeze in some lemon juice. Finish off with honey to sweeten the tea. If I run out honey I just use brown sugar. 

I usually prepare a big batch of this tea and store it in the ref. So that anytime I like to drink something sweet and cold, I take this refreshing tea. 

I use the whole of the lemongrass including the white thick portion near the roots, roots are removed however. To infuse more flavor, I pound the thick white part before using it. 

Lemongrass

There is a way of fitting the whole of the lemongrass to the pot, fold it like so:

how we "fold" the lemongrass

Here in the Philippines, we have a citrus that we often substitute for lemon which we call Calamansi and  Calamondin for the rest of the world. Calamansi is more intense in flavor. For this particular beverage, I think using Lemon gives the tea just the right citrus scent and flavor.

My office mate got excited about trying this concoction. She says lemongrass has healing benefits that may help in her condition (high cholesterol and high blood pressure). Here are more health benefits of lemongrass.

Working on this article, I wanted to make sure that I'm using the right terms: herb and spice. So I did a little research and found some interesting definitions in a blog, fooducate. Just a bit of a recap of what I've read, the term herb is used when talking about ingredients coming from the green and leafy part of the plant while the term spice is used when referring to parts of the plant, other than the leaf like roots, stems, bulbs, barks or seeds. Spices are usually dried before being used. The American Spice Trade Association, however, have a different definition: Spices are defined as "any dried plant product used primarily for seasoning purposes." This really broadens the definition of spices, allowing it to include herbs, dehydrated veggies, spice blends and spice seeds.