Mama Time: different ways to enjoy your breastfeeding herbal tea

Herbal tea is a drink made by infusing plants in water. It can be enjoyed hot or cold and offers different benefits depending on the plants used. There are, however, a few rules to follow when infusing your herbs, to bring out the best flavour and make the most of their benefits.

Herbal tea is a great way to stay well hydrated, in summer and winter alike! As a general rule, it is recommended to drink 1.5 to 2L of water per day, but this can be a challenge if you are not a big water drinker. Rather than replacing water with sugary drinks, it is far better to swap it for infusions, hot or iced. Made from plant leaves or fruit, infusions have the advantage of working just as well brewed hot or cold, opening up a whole range of recipe possibilities! What's more, they are hydrating, low in calories, and delicious.

A great hydration solution during pregnancy and breastfeeding — periods when staying well hydrated is especially important!

To find out more, read our two articles: Pregnancy and hydration and Breastfeeding and hydration.

At first glance, brewing a herbal tea seems like something simple — you pour boiling water over the leaves and leave it to steep! But to fully appreciate all the flavours and enjoy its benefits, brewing a herbal tea does require following a few guidelines.

First of all, use water with a neutral pH and low mineral content — filtered tap water is ideal. The taste that tap water can sometimes have, or the minerals found in bottled water, can affect the flavour of your infusion.

Next, you need to master temperature and time!

The temperature at which you brew your herbal tea plays a very important role in the flavours and aromas it releases. Water that is too hot risks destroying the beneficial properties of the plants! The ideal temperature for an infusion is around 90°C. Be careful — the water must not boil; when water boils it loses its dissolved oxygen, which is a crucial element in the aromatic development of the plants during infusion.

The brewing time is generally between 5 and 10 minutes. Time is an important parameter to get right, as it also influences the taste of the herbal tea and the delivery of the plants' beneficial properties.

The best way to get both of these parameters right is to always check the back of your packaging — the ideal time and temperature will be indicated for your specific infusion!

For our breastfeeding herbal tea, we recommend 5 to 7 minutes at a temperature of 95°C.

Finally, you need to get the quantity of herbal tea right when brewing (when it is presented loose rather than in a bag). Here too, the ideal quantity for the amount of water is generally indicated on the packaging. For example, for Mama Time, we recommend mixing 2g of tea in 250ml of water.

Milk can add a comforting touch to your drink.

In a latte, half the cup consists of the herbal tea brewed hot in water and the other half is milk. You will therefore need to make a stronger infusion by increasing the amount of tea and the steeping time! For example, for the Mama Time infusion, you can use 2g in 125ml of boiling water at 90°C this time and leave it to steep for around 10 minutes. This will help retain all the flavour of the herbal tea!

Finally, you will need to choose a milk with a fairly mild flavour! We recommend plant-based milks such as spelt, rice, or oat milk, which all have a gentle taste. To finish your tea latte, add the warm milk to the brewed tea! You can also, as a final touch, add a milk foam made using an electric frother, for example!

Find our recipe for Vegan Mama Time Latte !

Iced herbal tea is another way to enjoy your herbal tea, especially in summer! The flavour is more subtle, with no bitterness or astringency, as these only develop in the presence of hot water. Your herbal tea will therefore have a gentler taste.

The steeping time for your iced herbal tea will be longer than for a hot herbal tea, so it is advisable not to use a tea bag and to let your herbal tea infuse freely in the water.

Use approximately 10g of Mama Time herbal tea per 1L of water at room temperature or cold, then leave to infuse for 1–2 hours at room temperature or overnight in the fridge. Before serving, you can add ice cubes to keep your herbal tea nice and cool!

You can also make herbal tea ice cubes and add them, just before serving, to your iced herbal tea or iced tea latte, so as not to dilute it too much and lose the flavour. Or you can simply enjoy the ice cubes by sucking on them directly!

Brew your herbal tea in hot water — to keep the flavour, double the concentration of tea per millilitre of water: use 4 g of Mama Time herbal tea, for example, for 250 ml of water (as you would for a tea latte). Once brewed, pour the infusion into an ice cube tray and place it in the freezer, then enjoy once the cubes have formed! It really couldn't be simpler!

A shaken herbal tea is like an iced herbal tea, but for when you don't have the time or the inclination to wait overnight before enjoying your herbal tea!

It is a shaken hot infusion. You need to brew a hot infusion that is slightly stronger than usual, then pour it over ice cubes.

The final step, which gives the drink its name: once you have poured the hot herbal tea over ice cubes, you need to shake your drink (stir very vigorously), and you can then enjoy your herbal tea straight away!

For this recipe, take inspiration from the iced herbal tea and the herbal latte!

Brew your herbal tea as you would for an iced herbal tea, making it slightly stronger (15g of Mama Tine herbal tea per 1L of water, for example). In your cup, half should be iced herbal tea, as with a herbal latte, and the other half cold milk this time. All that's left to do is enjoy your iced herbal latte!

"Sun tea" is herbal tea brewed in the sun — a naturally refreshing way to quench your thirst! Simply steep your herbal tea in a jug of cold water placed in the sun. The preparation is similar to that of iced herbal tea: use approximately 10g of Mama Time herbal tea per 1L of cold water and leave to steep for 2 to 4 hours in the sun.

What matters most with sun tea is the choice of container — a transparent glass vessel with a lid is preferable. The lid protects your drink from dust or insects that might fall in, and glass helps prevent the proliferation of bacteria, as it is easy to disinfect and clean between each sun tea. To limit the risk of contamination, you should also sterilise your container, either by washing it with hot water and soap and leaving it to air dry, or by covering it with water brought to the boil for 10 minutes and also leaving it to air dry. It is also recommended not to let the infusion steep for more than 4 hours, as there is a risk of encouraging bacterial growth. When your infusion is ready, if you notice it looks cloudy, thick, or has particles floating in it, it is best not to drink it — simply discard it.

Once your sun tea is ready, you can prepare it by straining it to remove the tea leaves, then pouring it into a jug to keep cool, with or without ice, before serving.