Refreshing Rose & Oatstraw Tea for Summer By Kami McBride
Even if you live for long, luxurious summer days, there’s a point at which the heat can become too much. This is especially true when bright sun and high temps combine with the rush of social activity this season often brings. Sometimes the overwhelm sets in without warning: one minute you’re enjoying a stroll through the outdoor market, the next you’re consumed by the urge to push your way through the crowd of strangers in search of shade and hydration. Then, a deep exhale of relief as you remember the bottle of restorative rose and milky tops oatstraw tea at your side!
It’s all too easy to feel hot and irritated during the peak of summer, which is why I love whipping up the Oatstraw Breeze recipe from my book, The Herbal Kitchen. Like a breeze, this cooling summertime tea refreshes, allowing us to stay centered and enjoy the bustle of activity on a hot day. In this recipe, lavender and rose invite an instant sense of calm, milky tops oatstraw tea strengthens the nervous system, building your resilience to stress over time.*
Lightly sweet, Oatstraw Breeze also makes a great alternative to juice or sodas as kids transition to a new school year. It can refresh and keep the whole family grounded while the days are still hot and kids are adapting to new social situations that might bring excitement, occasional anxiety, or both.
I like to triple the recipe below and pour it into a large tea dispenser so that anyone that walks through the kitchen can fill up their water bottle. This beverage is so much more pleasing than only drinking water as your hydration source.
Each of the herbs in Oatstraw Breeze has cooling, calming properties that make this tea one of my favorite summer season brews:
Oatstraw (Avena sativa)
Soothing milky oat tops, are one of my go-to herbs for minimizing the effects of a stressful lifestyle. Its effects aren’t felt instantly, but used over time it calms the nervous system, reducing irritability, occasional anxiety, and nervousness. It’s simultaneously gentle and strongly supportive, while its mildly sweet flavor makes it a great base for a tea.*
Lavender (Lavandula spp.)
Calming lavender tames stress and tones the nervous system, allowing you to respond with composure in stressful situations. The effects of lavender are quick, cooling irritability and agitation into serenity and repose. In tea, its distinctive aroma and flavor make it a great complement for oatstraw.*
Rose (Rosa spp.)
Cooling rose petals are one of my favorite herbs to add to summer drinks for relief from the heat. Rose is a nerve tonic that restores and lifts the nervous system. It calms occasional anxiety and restlessness while improving mental function, moderating reactivity, and improving sleep. Rose water is distilled from rose petals and brings an uplifting fragrance to drinks.*
I highly recommend letting the lavender and oatstraw tea steep in the sun. After all, what invokes summer more than sun tea? But if the day’s gotten away with you, as summer days often do, you can certainly brew them with hot water.
This recipe makes about two servings. To share with a group, you’ll want to double, triple, or even quadruple it.
Oastraw Breeze
INGREDIENTS
1 tablespoon dried oatstraw milky oat tops
1 tablespoon dried lavender flowers
2 cups water
2 tablespoons rose water
1/8 cup honey
Add a dropperful of Oregon’s Wild Harvest Namaste or Count to Zen Biodynamic Tonics to help fortify your body during the stress of summer heat
Seasonal fruit for garnish
INSTRUCTIONS
- Make Oatstraw-Lavender Sun Tea: Place oatstraw, lavender and water into a clean glass jar, cap, and set in the sun for a few hours.
- Coming back to your sun tea, strain the herbs if you wish.
- Add rose water and OWS tonic of choice
- Garnish with fresh fruit or herbs (optional) and serve.
- Lasts two to three days in the refrigerator.
I sincerely hope you’ll try this summery twist on nourishing oatstraw tea. The floral notes of rose and lavender aren’t often found in drinks, and their properties make this one of my tried-and-true favorite recipes for staying cool, calm, and collected all season long.
Kami’s passion for herbal medicine was propelled by an excruciating brain surgery at 19 years old that was the result of a medication side-effect. Awakening from the slumber of the standard drug solution approach to health, she was called by the plants. Now her 30+ years of teaching herbal medicine has helped thousands of people learn to use herbal remedies as the centerpiece of their health care plan. She has taught herbal medicine at the University of California School of Nursing and the Integral Health Master’s degree program at the California Institute of Integral Studies. She is the author of The Herbal Kitchen and her live and online workshops fuel the home herbalism movement to revitalize our relationship with the plant world and work with herbal medicine for home wellness care. She can be reached at www.KamiMcBride.com or in IG at @kamimcbride.
