Saving Cents by Using Sense--Brewing Tea, Part 1

Over the weekend one of my darling daughters spiked a fever.  It was one of those cases where fever and swollen glands were the main symptoms.  As with most childhood illnesses, I immediately reached for my childrens' activator and echinacea/elderberry tea.

If I had followed the directions that came with my tea, I would have used 1-2 teaspoons of bulk tea or 1 tea bag per cup of boiling water.

I didn't do that.  I remembered my high school science class and employed a much more frugal method.  All of the above tea was brewed with one spoonful of bulk tea.

Do you remember osmosis?  It's the idea that a solute will evenly disperse itself across a permeable membrane until both sides of the membrane have an equal concentration of solution.

The same idea applies even without the permeable membrane.  If I put a tea bag in the top of a Mason jar, it won't just make tea with one cup of water.  Instead, the tea will brew through all of the water in the jar.

So if I want to make double the tea, I have a choice to make.  I can either double the amount of tea in my jar or I can double my TIME.  I usually take whatever route is cheapest.  The tea that you see above (organic Double E Immune Booster from the Bulk Herb Store) was brewed in a single pot on the stove and then separated into individual jars.

I can already hear the devil's advocate wondering, "Does it dilute the healing properties of the tea?"  I'm sure there's a point where it does, but we haven't found it yet.  We make up to a gallon of herbal tea at a time with no ill effects.

I'd love to hear your feedback, particularly if you're willing to give it a try.


This post was shared with Simple Lives Thursday, Frugal Fridays, Traditional Tuesdays, and Real Food Wednesday.