Dried herbs usually taste better than fresh ones when brewed as tea, and the drying process for leaves and flowers is quite simple.
When you harvest above-ground plant parts for making tea, make sure they are free from rain and dew, since moisture will encourage mold formation mold during drying. The ideal time to harvest is late morning, when the dew has dried, and the sun has not yet baked out nutrients. (However, later in the day is better than not harvesting at all!)
Collect your plants in a paper bag or basket and then find a place out of the sun to dry them. If the plant has long stems, you can assemble a bunch and tie the stems together near the base, using string or a rubber band. Make sure the bunch is loose enough to allow circulation of air through the leaves, and hang it from a hook or nail.
Individual leaves or flowers may be placed on a paper towel or in a basket. Some people build screens with frames and place them on boards or bricks. My favorite set-up is a basket on top of the refrigerator, where the rising heat accelerates drying. I stir the plants once a day to make sure air gets at all the parts. Drying time will vary with humidity.
Check your plants daily by bending several leaves to see if they crack, the indication that they are dry. Once they are dry, store them immediately in a paper bag or jar. The stems may take longer to dry, in which case it’s best to strip off the leaves when they are dry. The stems may also be used for tea.
Roots should be brushed free of dirt, sliced, and given two weeks to dry. It’s best to finish off roots in an oven on very low heat for half an hour with the oven door left open.
