Around this time of year everyone has an abundance of bright yellow dandelions beginning to sprout around their yard. Most people might get annoyed with the flowers without knowing they can easily be used to make a delicious homemade tea. Dandelion root tea is fairly easy to make and has a delicious, dark and earthy taste.
Picking the dandelions
The first step to making dandelion root tea is to collect your dandelions. All you’ll need is a small shovel (or just your hands) and to walk around digging up dandelions from your yard.When digging them up, your main focus should be on collecting and preserving as much of the root as possible as this is what we’ll use to make our tea.
The number of dandelions you want to collect is completely dependent on you and how much tea you’d like to have. I recommend collecting about 20-30 dandelion roots which should make about five cups of tea.
Cleaning The Dandelions
Now that you’ve collected all your dandelion roots, you’ll first want to wash them. I recommend filling a bowl with cold water and submerging all the plants. Then, use your hands to scrub off and remove as much dirt as possible. DO this multiple times using fresh water each time until they’re completely clean.
Now that your dandelions are clean, you can use a cutting board and a knife to remove all the leaves and flowers. Then, chop the roots into about 1/8th of an inch pieces
Now that all the dandelions are chopped, you’ll need to lay them in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Heat the oven to 200 degrees F and roast for thirty minutes on one side then flip and roast for thirty minutes on the other side.
Brewing and Storing the Roots
After baking, allow the roots to cool before packaging them in an airtight container. Store the roots in a cool dry place. When you are ready to brew your tea, just add about a tablespoon of the roots to a cup of boiling water. Or, if you don’t want the roots directly in your tea, add them to a reusable tea bad and allow them to brew in that until you are ready to drink.