The Lemongrass tea recipe is for you if you are looking to get into a healthier groove in your life. The fresh aroma of lemongrass has many health benefits as well.
Did you ever want to learn how to make this Asian classic, lemongrass tea, from scratch at home?
Read further below about the Lemongrass tea benefits, how to get fresh lemongrass and how to make fresh lemongrass tea easily at home.
You might have spotted lemongrass tea at your Asian neighborhood restaurant’s menu or youΒ got introduced to it while at the spa.
Various Asian food joints such as Thai and Vietnamese restaurants will suggest you have a lemongrass tea after food to digest easier.
In reputable spas, it is commonplace to serve a hot cup of lemongrass tea before treatment as it relaxes the body and mind and helps in flushing out toxins.
If you are looking start a new year healthy or if you just decided to change your ways to the better, then the lemongrass tea recipe is going to be a useful hot beverage in your repertoire.
What is Lemongrass & what does it look like?
Lemongrass is also known as Citronella or Fevergrass.
It is a tropical plant, native to India and South Asia, where lemongrass grows in long slender green and white grass blades.
Lemongrass looks like any other long field grass blade but you can always recognize it from its smell and taste and because it grows together in a tuft. The blades, however, are fibrous and rather though.
What does Lemongrass taste and smell like?
As the name suggests, the plant got its name because of the resemblance to fresh lemon/citrus in taste and smell but it does also have a refreshing and welcoming touch of grass taste.
Compared to lemon juice when heated, lemongrass doesn’t alter in flavor and it tends to be more intense, enriching other food easily without the flavor profile altering at all.
It’s not sour, it’s rather sweet.
You can smell lemongrass when passing next to a patch of this green herb. So, in that sense the smell is strong but when you drink the lemongrass tea recipe, you don’t feel overwhelmed by the flavors.
What are the health benefits of the Lemongrass Tea Recipe?
Remember, any herb in a fresh form can benefit human health, body, and mind.
Because fresh herbs contain antioxidants and when eaten raw you can get the most out of benefiting properties.
Antioxidants support the human body cells and that means they help in preventing cancerous growth. Antioxidants basically keep us alive even when we age!
In the case of our lemongrass tea recipe, the benefiting properties are released into the tea, which in turn takes effect after digestion.
So this lemongrass tea, benefits, besides providing essential antioxidants, the following way:
- It has Anti-bacterial, Anti-fungal & Anti-inflammatory benefits. Lemongrass tea properties prevent the growth of certain bacteria and fungus. It may prevent the flu or a cold and it has been used to reduce fever (that’s why it’s also known as fever grass)
- It helps you digest and calms an upset stomach. Lemongrass helps to protect the stomach and promotes a healthy digestive system.
- It’s a natural diuretic, it detoxifies! Lemongrass tea will help you clear your body of toxins. It’s an organ cleanser and if you drink lemongrass tea daily, it will give your skin a healthier look in the long run, as it flushes out any bodily toxins.
- It regulates cholesterol and blood pressure
- It drives your metabolism and that can help you to lose weight! (But understand that it also increases appetite)
- It clears the mind and reduces stress significantly. It can help in treating the nervous disorder and it will help you to relax and calm down after a stressful day.
This Lemongrass tea recipe should be avoided by pregnant ladies and those who take prescription diuretics. Otherwise, young or old, there are no age limits what so ever to consume lemongrass tea.
Can I grow Lemongrass at home or where can I get Lemongrass?
We have been growing lemongrass for years again and again in Asia. In the European Alps we didn’t have that much of a success.
My conclusion: It doesn’t make sense to grow lemongrass in a cold climate or indoors in a pot.
Lemongrass needs a lot of suns and well-drained mud floor to grow thick long and green grass blades. If there is too much rain during the rainy season, lemongrass can die, although it’s quite a sturdy plant.
So, in the Northern Hemisphere, I suggest that you go and buy fresh green Lemongrass blades. You usually get them nowadays too in regular supermarkets or otherwise at an Asian neighborhood stop.
I am always glad to have my lemongrass blades growing in the garden as I get fresh grass that way whenever I need some. Yes, it does make sense to grow your own at home to make this lemongrass tea recipe!
If you want to grow Lemongrass then don’t get seeds but instead the lemongrass plant.
If you are living in a warm climate, then you can also keep it to grow in a pot as long as it gets enough sun and the pot can be drained of excess water.
If you have pets, keep the lemongrass away from them or they are going to finish your plants. Dogs and cats like to chew on lemongrass frequently in a day.
Many of my plants have been destroyed because of animals. Especially dogs have strong saliva and that for some reason doesn’t do the plants too well.
Fresh Lemongrass Tea Recipe
Ingredients
- 2-3 stalks Lemongrass fresh or dried Lemongrass
- 3 cups Water
- Sugar optional
- Lemon Slice optional, to serve
- Black Tea Bags optional, to serve
Instructions
- Place the water into a pan and heat up.
- If you use fresh lemongrass, cut your clean and washed lemongrass with a scissor into smaller bits. Add the lemongrass to the cooking water.
- Bring the water with the lemongrass to a boil and then let it simmer for 10 minutes covered. Take from the heat and strain your tea.
- Serve hot with a slice of lemon and you maybe add sugar although I would try it without sugar. It beats the purpose to add sugar or sweetener to a healthy hot tea.
Notes
- Turn this fresh lemongrass tea into an iced lemongrass tea by cooling it in the fridge and serving with ice cubes.
- Add a tea bag when serving this lemongrass tea, for those who want more flavor in their tea.
Nutrition
Healthy teas similar to the lemongrass tea recipe:
Dear Reader, where did you get to know about lemongrass tea for the first time?
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My husband uses lemongrass in cooking A LOT! π I’ve never had it in tea because I’m not a tea drinker, but maybe in the new yΓ¬ear, I will up my tea consumption and this will definitely be in the list.
I’ve never tried Lemongrass tea before but it sounds wonderful and I like the idea of both the benefits for relieving toxins and the taste! I will have to give this a go π
Sounds like a healthy way to start the New Year. Perfect to warm up with, especially with this cold weather we are having.
I love lemon grass but i am not sure i ever had it in tea! i was not aware of all the health benefits! great info!
I have never tried Lemongrass but now I would definitely like to.
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Lemongrass tea sounds amazing! And good for you, even better!
I have had quite a few afternoon teas and been to events where lemongrass was served and it was rather refreshing! I love that it is so good for your immune system and removing bad toxins x
I’ve never had lemongrass before but I definitely want to give this recipe a try! It sounds so yummy! Happy New Year! π
I am not a huge tea drinker but I do enjoy lemongrass tea. I’ve never made it fresh, so I am eager to try that now. Also, I had no idea how many benefits there were to lemongrass, thank you so much for sharing. I’m sure my family will not be thrilled at my sudden addition of lemongrass to our routine, lol.
I have Lemongrass is essential oil form. It smells good & I like using it in my diffuser. Iβm not a big tea drinker (outside of southern sweet tea), but it sounds really beneficial to ingest.
The essential oil is not meant to be ingested. For this lemongrass tea you will need either fresh lemon grass blades or dried lemongrass. π
I have been battling with a cough off and on for about a week. I am going to try this and hopefully it’s a natural way to help this cough.
Coming from a person who drinks tea everyday. I have to try this Lemongrass tea. It seems worth it to try.
I want to drink more tea this year. I’m an avid coffee drinker, but I want to be healthier (and 4 cups of creamy coffee every day is NOT good!)
I’ve only used lemongrass in salads before and we’ve just started seeing fresh lemongrass being sold in the larger supermarkets. I’ve never thought of buying it though, I was worried we wouldn’t be able to use it all, but making tea sounds just prefect
I’m not much into herbal or all natural things, so this was great to learn a little more about them and something that is totally do-able at home. Sounds like it smells amazing! Thanks for sharing
Fresh herbs have the tastiest taste ever. The fragrance can be very refreshing and this kind of tea is very healthy too.
I love drinking tea and Lemongrass tea sounds so amazing, would love to try this. I like the way you have presented it, and the health benefits of this tea are great, always yes to antioxidants.
I honestly thought this had a regular tea bag too! Thanks for sharing. Now I know better.;)
this sounds fantastic!!! I love tea and Lemongrass is a favorite so I will definitely be trying this!
I always love trying new teas and this one sounds amazing! I love all of the benefits it comes with as well. I am going to have to try this soon!
I love tea and trying new flavours although I have never tried lemongrsss. I will have to check it out.
Wow” I’ve never tried lemongrass tea before and I think I should try it this new year!
Helene Thanks for this!
These are some great benefits! I’m obsessed with tea and this sounds delicious!
I love lemongrass! I can just imagine how fragrant and tasty this tea is!!
I’ve never made lemon grass tea with lemon grass stalks before, but this sounds SO comforting and soothing. Can’t wait to try it.
I’ve never had lemongrass, but I do love the scent. I’m thinking I would love this tea!
This sounds amazing and I love all the health benefits! I wonder….could you use 100% pure lemongrass essential oil instead of the actual lemongrass? Sounds so relaxing! I’ll have to try this!
Hi Amanda, thank you for your questions!
to be honest I do not add essential oil to my food, I still feel weird about essential food grade oils. Eventually I suppose we would need to ask an expert, however I will try to inform myself better and do some research if one can add lemongrass essential oils to make lemongrass tea.
What a fantastic idea! I love the taste of lemon grass. I can’t wait to try this!
I love love love tea! But I’ve never had lemongrass tea and I’ve never actually made my own. I think it would be so fun to make this recipe!
in Δ°ndonesia we call it wedang sereh, wedang=hot drink, sereh=lemongrass. Commonly we drink wedang sereh with palm or rock sugar. And sometimes we add glutinous rice balls and sugar palm fruit in it. Healthy and warm our body during cold days. My mom has few pots of lemongrass plant in my homeland. We use it for cooking a lot as well.
love ur informative post
Thank you for sharing this. I knew that lemongrass tea was common south east Asia, but I didn’t know that some people add rice balls and sugar palm fruits in it. I would love to try it that way but locally in Indonesia. π
I’ve been drinking more tea this winter than ever before, and this sounds like a fantastic way to drink even more of it! So cozy and I love all the health benefits!
I love that you actually make your own tea! And you make it sound so easy. I can’t wait to try this.
What a fantastic tea! Looks so refreshing and relaxing! Need to pick up some lemongrass. Happy 2018!!!
I live in South Carolina and decided to grow lemon grass on my porch and it is doing quite well. Today we harvested our first batch for tea and it was wonderful. I plan to try it in cold tea also (maybe it will serve as a healthier alternative to sweet tea). Over the winter I will bring it and my lemon tree in and have a nice natural air freshener.
That’s lovely, glad to read that you have been growing lemongrass successfully at home. If I have a lot of extra lemongrass, I trim it off (to keep the plant healthy) and I cut it small and store in a cool place. Later on, I use it in teas etc. I also just enjoy the smell in the house. So refreshing! π
I am so excited to try this recipe! My husband & I just got back from Vietnam & I was served lemongrass tea with a lime slice & totally fell in love!!!
It’s quite refreshing, isn’t it? π You can also steep the lemongrass with tea leaves, which is quite interesting as well or with fresh ginger.