Iced Verbena Infusion: A Recipe For A Refreshing Drink

Lemon verbena is typically prepared as a herbal tea in winter. But have you ever used this plant with digestive properties to make a refreshing drink? We invite you to discover the recipe for iced lemon verbena infusion, a particularly thirst-quenching beverage in summer.

Ingredients

Here are the necessary ingredients to prepare a chilled verbena infusion for 4 people:

2 sprigs of fresh lemon verbena or a handful of dried verbena leaves
1 liter of water
2 tablespoons of liquid honey
1 organic yellow lemon

Preparing verbena infusion

The preparation of iced verbena infusion is very easy but time-consuming.
To extract the flavor from the verbena leaves, start by infusing them in hot water before cooling down the resulting herbal tea.
1- Bring one liter of water to a boil in a pot or kettle.
2- Mix fresh or dried verbena leaves with the boiling water directly in the pot or in a pitcher like in the photo below.
3- Cover the container and let it infuse for 10 minutes.

Cooling of verbena infusion

After 10 minutes, don't forget to strain the drink and remove the verbena leaves as an infusion time that is too long may give a bitter taste to your drink.

1- Filter the verbena infusion into a carafe using a funnel and a small strainer or a chinois.

2- Add the liquid honey to the still hot tea and mix with a wooden spoon to fully dissolve the honey in the liquid.

3- Let it cool down at room temperature before placing the carafe in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours.

Note: I recommend preparing this infusion the day before and keeping it in the refrigerator overnight. This way, you will be sure to serve your chilled verbena infusion at the right temperature.

Tasting tips

Serve the iced verbena infusion by adding two fresh lemon verbena leaves and a thin slice of lemon in each glass. With its delicately lemony flavor, this drink is particularly refreshing during hot summer days.

Unlike homemade iced tea made from black or green tea, this infusion is completely caffeine-free so you can drink it at any time of the day.

Not only will this drink not prevent you from sleeping, but it could also help with digestion as lemon verbena is believed to have properties against nausea and other gastric and intestinal disorders.

If you enjoy the aromatic and lemony flavor of this plant, you will love refreshing yourself with this rather easy-to-make drink! You can also create multiple variations by replacing the yellow lemon with other fruits. For example, you can add a slice of lime or pieces of peach to your iced infusion...

Peach is a seasonal fruit that pairs particularly well with verbena. If you have never tasted this delicious combination of flavors, try our recipe for summer fruit soup with verbena!