Island Teas - Leaf Teas

Here in the islands, you will find that many Bahamians prefer ‘bush teas’ (leaves of plants that can be found in our environments) over store-bought ones.

Leaf teas are usually prepared with fresh leaves, (unlike the dried tea leaves that you would purchase), and in our home (because I can’t wait!), we drink a cup of the tea freshly boiled then steep it overnight for a morning brew. 

This simple recipe can be used for Pear leaf (my favorite), ‘sour’ leaf, lime/lemon leaf, fever grass (lemon grass), peppermint leaf teas and a few others that I can’t remember off the top of my head due to my partiality..lol…

I literally go outside and pick the leaves that I want (sometimes, we find our tea leaves in the ‘bush’, and at times we are gifted with them by family or friends). I rinse and inspect to ensure that no debris or insects are brought inside.  I then place them in a pot (folding or tearing them if necessary) and cover them with enough water to boil. 

Depending on the amount of cups I plan to prepare, I  gauge the amount of leaves and water I place in the pot. I boil them to the desired strength (you will be able to tell how strong it is by the color your water changes to…the darker it gets the stronger it is)
At this point, you can do as I do and prepare a cup with your desired amount of sugar to taste, or you can let it steep overnight (which is what you are SUPPOSED to do, to truly enjoy the full flavor) and reheat it to enjoy in the morning (I do both).

I can’t recall my first time drinking pear leaf tea, but it is definitely my favorite (I think fresh peppermint tea is next, and then lemon grass (fever grass tea).  We drink these teas in moderation because they also have medicinal value (that I can’t remember off the top of my head)…in a future blog post I will talk more about our bush teas & medicines here in The Bahamas.

Hands up in gratitude, heart full of nostalgia,

xoxo Jenna