Herbal Ice Cubes
Written and Photographed by Juliet Blankespoor
Hibiscus ice cubes in water.
How many times have you found yourself in this embarrassingly uncomfortable situation? You invite a treasured friend over on a hot summer afternoon and reach for the herbal iced tea you have lovingly prepared from fresh aromatic herbs in your garden, but then you realize with sinking humiliation that you only have plain Jane ice cubes on hand. You wish you could just go home, but unfortunately, you are already home. So you serve the plain ice cubes anyway and brace yourself for the gossip that will surely ensue from your frigid faux pas. “ What kind of herbalist serves ordinary ice cubes with their herbal refreshments?”
Let’s totally avoid that scenario, and stock up on these fancy pants herbal ice cubes instead.
I use herbal ice cubes to flavor plain water when I have a full day to make a quick cool herbal beverage, or use them to flavor and cool herbal teas.
Calendula and Wild Bergamot flowers grace Schisandra-infused herbal ice cubes.
Hibiscus ice cubes in a glass beverage dispenser.
Hibiscus Ice Cubes
Equipment
- Ice cube tray
- Strainer
Ingredients
- 1 quart water
- 2 tablespoons dried calyces of hibiscus (Hibiscus sabdariffa, Malvaceae)
Directions
- Bring water to a boil and add hibiscus.
- Let sit for twenty minutes and strain.
- Let the tea cool before adding to ice cube trays.
Try Hibiscus Mint Herbal Iced Tea with Key Lime Ice Cubes
Calendula and wild bergamot flowers adorn schisandra herbal ice cubes.
Schisandra Ice Cubes
Equipment
- Ice cube tray
- Strainer
Ingredients
- 1 quart water
- 2 tablespoons dried schisandra berries (Schisandra chinensis)
Directions
- Bring water to a boil and add schisandra.
- Let sit for twenty minutes and strain.
- Let the tea cool before adding to ice cube trays.
The fruits of Schisandra chinensis, Magnoliaceae are an important traditional Chinese medicine, and are called Wu Wei Zi, or “five flavored fruit”. I find the flavor of the tea to be mildly sour, with mild smoky and salty overtones. Schisandra is an adaptogen, anti-oxidant, cardio-tonic, immune tonic and anxiolytic. Traditionally it is used to increase Yin; I often use the berries with folks who experience a lot of dryness, with strong thirst and copious urine. Another traditional use is to help with excessive sweating and nightsweating. Schisandra is calming and uplifting for many people, and is used as a tonic in anxietous depression and as a remedy to increase concentration and focus. People who are prone to heartburn may find that schisandra aggravates this condition.
Calendula and wild bergamot ice cubes.
Bee balm schisandra ice cube.
Hibiscus ice cube herbal tea garnished with apple mint and calendula flowers.
Calendula officinalis.
Meet The Green Mastermind Behind Blog Castanea:
JULIET BLANKESPOOR is the founder, primary instructor, and Creative Director of the Chestnut School of Herbal Medicine, an online school serving thousands of students from around the globe. She's a professional plant-human matchmaker and bonafide plant geek, with a degree in botany and over 30 years of experience teaching and writing about herbalism, medicine making, and organic herb cultivation. Juliet’s lifelong captivation with medicinal weeds and herb gardening has birthed many botanical enterprises over the decades, including an herbal nursery and a farm-to-apothecary herbal products business.
These days, she channels her botanical obsession through her writing and photography in her online programs, on her personal blog Castanea, and in her new book, The Healing Garden: Cultivating and Handcrafting Herbal Remedies. Juliet and her family reside in a home overrun with houseplants and books in Asheville, North Carolina.
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Annmarie Brooks says:
Can I use dried calendula for ice cubes?
Sara Kinney says:
Dried calendula often rehydrates nicely, so I would just put the whole dried flower in some water for an hour or so and then add them to the ice cube trays.
Wendy Winters says:
Beautiful ice cubes! I immediately tried making them with what was in bloom in the garden. I picked borage, chamomile and johnny jump ups but something unexpected happened. The flowers floated to the top of the ice cube so I tried melting them and refreezing but the borage lost all its color and the flowers became flaccid.
Any advice anyone?
Juliet Blankespoor says:
Flowers can be so unpredictable, can’t they? Small flowers do float to the surface. You can try putting a few flowers in each ice cube, or using larger flowers. I’m sure your ice cubes will be beautiful even if some flowers float to the top.
E Burch says:
Freeze small flowers in half-full ice trays, then top off the tray with more water. The flowers will be anchored in the bottom layer of ice.
Pallavi says:
This is lovely. I’ll be sharing it with my friends on Facebook <3
Lisa Harris says:
I love this idea! Thanks for the inspiration.
Lisa
Linda Michelle says:
Wow, amazing! I’ll be sure to try these out, they look gorgeous! Thanks for sharing!
marc williams says:
Talk about eye candy! Definitely going to incorporate this into the repatoire…Wow, and the intro was hilarious too!!! Juliet i soooooo adore you…
Maxine Brown says:
I Love these Herbal Ice Cubes, I am definitely going to try them also looks delicious
Sara Kinney says:
Those are exquisite! And those are just the cutest dang calendula flowers I ever did see. Why don’t you open an herbal cafe now that your nursery is scaling back? I hear owning a restaurant is easy. 😉
Darlene Jones says:
How beautiful! Thanks so much 4 sharing stuff like this 4 those of us who are TRULY creatively & herbally challenged! Thanks 2 my Sis Joy 4 being totally terrific!
Christina Dos Reis says:
How big are those ice cubes? How do you get a whole flower to look that good in a frozen ice cube?
Juliet Blankespoor says:
Christina, these are supersized glamorously large ice cubes, but smaller flowers,such as calendula pansies, violet, etc. will fit into a standard ice cube tray. The fresh flowers just look good when frozen…try it, you’ll see!
Mallory says:
Very pretty! <3 it!
Pat Robinson says:
Wow!! Gorgeous!! Going to share!
Pat