Types of Teas

Hello!

So, since I have just started with potions, I have been searching around the site reading about different herbs and stuff, and I want to know what types of teas there are and what their purposes are. Any information would be grateful valued! :)

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You can try witchvox, or wicca.com. There sites are proven, and valued in the pagan community

If you're looking for health benefits, then you could just do a quick google search and read about it on those trusty health sites.
Sites I absolutely love for other types of teas, and there recipes are:

http://herbalriot.tumblr.com/post/62070106316/healing-and-magickal-tea-recipes

http://www.kitchenwiccan.com/whats-brewing/herbal-remedy-teas/

Good luck! I hope these sites helped a bit!

you could try sassafras tea

Well, I tell what I know and do. Herb Teas could be made for healing, for relaxation, calming, for sleep, from pain. Others go with recipes, I usually use one, two, max tree different herbs. Why? Because this way it will be easier to see if herb helps or not, or even causes allergy.
Also I make simple green or black teas with tincture (alcoholic extract of herb).
I have heard that there are teas for bewitching using blood. Something similar to love spells, but in my opinion - totally bad thing, close friends witnessed how family was destroyed.
I assume you could use tea for whatever you want - it's magic.

I love herbal tea, a few i use a lot;

Guayusa-for vitality and courage, energy in general, wakefulness, alert mind, centeredness. contains most/ all essential amino acids, twice the antioxidant content of green tea.

Eleuthero root- Tonic/ cleanser, adaptogen- increases body's resistance to mental, emotional, physical stress. Ashwaganda is another good adaptogen i use.

Hibiscus- unsure of health benefits, surely a lot of antioxidants. Red color to me is symbolic of vital energy.

Meadowsweet- Good for allergies, mild natural form of aspirin, in fact aspirin was first synthesized from meadowsweet.

Lemon grass for depression, anxiety.

marshmallow root and camomile. supposed to be relaxing

Consumable teas are mainly for healing or health purposes. Each herb has different properties that can aid in the healing of the body. Below is a link to a great site about herbs and other plants used medicinally. It list the benefits as well as side effects. Please use caution when trying any new herb or plant and be sure to check with your health professional if you have any preexisting conditions before consuming.

http://www.liveandfeel.com/

I use The Complete Guide to Natural Healing. Its pretty thorough. But to tell you the truth there are so many teas for almost all kinds of ailments I can not keep track. Magically there seems to be a lesser amount of actual recipes for tea. In magic I usually just go by the herbs magical properties and test it out on myself after I check for the health benefits and risks of the plant in my natural healing guide, just to be safe. Some plants may be best used for aroma instead of tea because they are too strong. Some are poisonous. As you probably know some are better in a tincture. Some are better used only if the ailment is worse or less severe during certain conditions.

The most exciting way that I have experienced the use of tea's in particular is while out hiking and camping. It was so fun to find my own plants using a plant identification book. Or you can use a website if you are in cell range. Be careful to make sure that you don't mistake edibles for non edibles. Collect your plants, after identifying them and go back to your camp site or home and brew them and try them yourself. Bay leaf is so fun and smells great. It has many healing properties but does not taste so great in a tea alone so I use it with rose petals and/or other flowers and plants. Pine needles and rosemary each mix with other herbs too but are not so tasty alone. They each have wonderful magical and healing properties.

Also if you know what you want for a result then check the plants magical and healing properties. You can mix and match. For instance chamomile for me is a sleep aid and helps digestion. It has magical properties associated to money and love so you can make your own magical tea blending its properties to attract money and love with other plants like rose and peppermint which have similar healing and magical properties.

I also use The Complete Book of Incense, Oils and Brews by Scott Cunningham because its got so much information all in one place on plants. And because I have had it for so long that I am familiar with it. To me it is the best reference for using plants. But there are lists of plants and their properties all over the web now and some on SOM.

I know this may be allot of info. and possibly not what you were looking for as far as specific recipe's but all that I use now is what ever pops into my head at the time. Fresh plants for me are always better in tea than old dried bought leaves. Lemon or orange zest works for extra flavor and magical oomph depending on your specific goal.

tea itself comes in a few verities; green, black, white, oolong, and herbal (which is technically an infuser not tea) are the basic ones

green teas, oolong and black teas are high in caffein, whall herbals and whites are not. each tea also needs different temperatures and brewing times to reach there full potential and usefulness. thats why a lot of people dont like tea, they tend to have had a green tea that has had boiling water poured on it (which burns the tea) and then has been brewed too long. burning your tea like that also ruins some of its benefits because you have actually strait up burned the leaves

heres a basic guide to brewing:

white/green - TEMP 165º - 180º / TIME :45-2 min
oolong - TEMP 165º - 185º / TIME :30-1 min
black/herbal -TEMP 200º - 212º / TIME 2-5 min