Gather in for the ultimate winter hug friends.
Have you tried tulsi tea?
In this post, I will show you how to create your own homemade tulsi tea infusion.
What is tulsi
tulsi in Hindi or holy basil in English (I’m kind of in love with both names), is an aromatic plant grown throughout the Indian subcontinent, revered for its culinary and medicinal properties.
Referred to as the elixir of life in Ayurvedic medicine, tulsi has been used for thousands of years in traditional Eastern medicine to treat a host of health conditions.
Much more recently, tulsi has become popular in the West principally through its action as an adaptogen — a plant substance that supports the body’s ability to recalibrate or adapt to psychological/ environmental stressors.
What do we know about tulsi
the studies – although Western medicine lags significantly behind Eastern medicine in its adoption of holy basil (and therefore its study of it), there was a systematic review of 24 human studies on tulsi published in 2017 that reinforced tulsi’s therapeutic effects on metabolic disorders, cardiovascular disease, immunity and neurocognition.
In these studies, tulsi was shown to play a role in normalizing glucose, blood pressure and lipid profiles, as well as supporting psychological and immunological stress (the adaptogen connection).
It’s also interesting to note that all of these studies reported favorable clinical outcomes with no studies reporting any significant adverse events. Promising stuff.
Research, as they say, is ongoing.
Meantime, I’m sitting down for a cup of tea. Care to join me?
It’s really good.
How to enjoy tulsi in tea
Dried tulsi is now widely available online or at your favorite tea shop. Look for loose leaf tulsi (or holy basil) c/s (cut and sifted) which refers to the dried herb as distinct from the ground powder or commercially packaged sachets (which are premixed with other herbs/spices and teas).
A cup of brewed tulsi on its own tastes fine but nothing special. For this infusion, I’ve paired it with two other Indian classics, fennel and cardamom, to create a heavenly aromatic experience that is also supportive of digestive health. It’s easy and fun to make at home and much less expensive over the long run than the packaged sachets. If you’re using fresh herbs and spices, it will heighten the flavor profile.
You can enjoy this herbal (non-caffeinated) tisane any time of day and may also find it especially soothing and supportive after meals.
- 16 oz/500 ml water
- 2 tsp organic loose leaf tulsi/holy basil c/s (cut and sifted)
- ½ tsp fennel seeds
- 8 green cardamom pods, skillet toasted and crushed to release seeds
- drizzle of honey, optional
- Slice or two of lemon, optional
- Bring water to a boil or near boil ideally.
- Meantime, toast cardamom pods in a dry skillet over low'ish heat until fragrant (tossing them about). Remove from heat to cutting board and using fingers or knife, crack pods open to release seeds (I reserve a few of the pod shells to toss into the infusion too).
- In a tea infuser or sachet, place: tulsi tea, fennel seed and cardamom seeds (including some of the pods if you like).
- Place infuser/sachet in designated mug and pour hot water over allowing the mixture to infuse for at least 7 minutes.
- Remove infuser from mug and add a swish of honey and a slice or two of lemon if you wish. It's also delicious on its own which is how I drink it. Enjoy!
Tea vs. Tisane: although I refer to this drink as a tea, strictly speaking it is a tisane (technically, tea refers to a specific species of plant known as: Camellia Sinensis and true teas are derived, in one form or another, from that plant. Tisane (also known as herbal tea) is an infusion made from other plant leaves, roots, bark, seeds, berries, spices, etc.
Coffee Lovers: save the tea infusion after use and add it to your coffee basket - your next batch of brewed coffee will have a beautiful Indian-spiced flavor.
The information in this post is provided for educational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for the advice of your health care professional. Always consult your health care professional directly before beginning or changing a course of health treatment.
I bought a tiny 6 inch tulsi plant because I use it in cooking; using it for a tisane was new to me. The plant, which I was afraid I would kill, has taken over two plant beds!! It makes a refreshing drink in the summer and a warming drink in the winter. I usually pair it with ginger (summer) and cinnamon (winter). I looking forward to trying fennel and cardamom.
What a delight to read your note, thank you so much for stopping by and sharing about the growth of your tulsi plant; i’m so encouraged by your success and willingness to give it a go (i have similar fears around killing plants haha), i’ve mostly been focused on growing fruit trees since moving to CA but would like to explore more with cultivating herbs and veggies… love that you enjoy the tulsi year round and actually the combo of ginger and cinnamon sounds pretty wonderful right about now (maybe some anise too for the holidays!) cheers.
Tulsi basil is easy to grow at my house and can be harvested regularly. Iʻm always looking for new recipes. Canʻt wait to try this combination.
Well hello Lorinda, I’m so happy you found your way here! I hope you enjoy this recipe and would love to hear how it goes — always fun to compare notes and learn from each other
ps: you’ve inspired me to look into growing my own tulsi :) x
Just wanted to stop by and say that I love your blog and these recipes are very helpful! Can’t wait to try them out :]
thank you so much for your kind and encouraging words; truly appreciate you stopping by to share that with me ♥
What a lovely bit of information about a healthy alternative tea. I am going to try this herbal tea recipe today. So over coffee!! Thank you!
good morning, thanks so much for dropping in; I hope you love this sip; have a beautiful day ♥
What an interesting brew. Definitely going to track some down.
I love tea, but I’ve never heard of holy basil. Thanks for telling us about it.
I have never heard of Tulsi tea, but now you have me very curious. Sounds like a wonderful flavor as well as just downright good for you. I’ll have to see if my tea shop carries it. Thanks!