Passionflower is a popular flowering vine that is commonly used around the world as a beautiful garden plant. However, fewer people know that this flowering vine can also make a delicious herbal tea.
Passionflower tea is a tisane made from the flowers, stems, and leaves of the passionflower plant. This herbal tea has mild sedative properties, making it a popular herbal tea to drink before bed. Passionflower can also promote relaxation and treat the symptoms of menopause.
Passionflower tea doesn’t just help you get a better night’s sleep. This easy-to-grow plant has other benefits for your health too. Keep reading to learn more about passionflower tea and how to brew it.
What Is Passionflower Tea?
Passionflower tea is an herbal tea or tisane made from the leaves and flowers of the passionflower vine (Passiflora incarnata).
Passionflowers are fragrant blossoming vines that are popular to grow in the garden on a trellis, fence, or other vertical surfaces. Passionflower is also known as maypop and wild apricot. While most passionflowers are grown for decoration, these flowers and plants also make delicious herbal tea.
What Does Passionflower Tea Taste Like?
Even though passionflower tea is made of blossoms, it has a mild vegetal flavor that is more similar to the flavor and aroma of grass. Many people who drink passionflower tea add floral honey, such as orange blossom honey, to help sweeten it when serving.
Health Benefits of Passionflower Tea
Passionflower tea doesn’t have a particularly delicious flavor, so the real reason most people drink it is for its medicinal properties. There are several health benefits associated with drinking passionflower tea. Here are just a few of them:
- Promotes relaxation: Drinking passionflower tea increases gamma-aminobutryic acid levels in the brain. This helps reduce the chemicals in the brain that induce anxiety. This quality makes passionflower a great option for people who deal with anxiety and stress.
- Mild sedative properties: The compounds in passionflower tea have mild sedative properties, which is why this type of tea is best consumed right before bed. Passionflower tea can help with sleep problems such as restlessness and insomnia.
- Menopause treatment: Menopause and perimenopause can cause a woman to experience hot flashes, an uncomfortable condition that causes women to feel flushed at night. Passionflower tea can reduce these hot flashes, allowing menopausal women to rest more easily.
For most people who drink it, passionflower tea is harmless and can be consumed regularly. However, it may have side effects for some people.
Side Effects of Passionflower Tea
Passionflower tea is generally considered a healthy drink for anyone who isn’t breast-feeding, and most people are safe to drink a cup or two a day if they like. However, like any tisane made from botanicals, passionflower tea has the potential to cause an allergic reaction to people who are unknowingly allergic to the plant.
If you experience shortness of breath, wheezing, hives, skin rash, or acute nausea after ingesting passionflower tea, stop drinking it and consult a doctor. These symptoms can be signs of an allergic reaction.
Even in people who are not allergic, passionflower tea can cause dizziness or drowsiness in some individuals. Do not drink passionflower tea before operating heavy machinery or driving.
How to Grow Passionflower for Tea
Passionflower grows wild in large areas of the southeastern United States. If you want to grow passionflower for tea, it is easy to cultivate in USDA growing zones 6 through 10. Passionflower vines prefer full sun, with afternoon shade in regions with a very hot summer climate.
Aside from preferring fertile, well-drained soil, passionflower is a versatile garden plant. It can be either sown directly or grown in containers. Growing passionflowers in containers allows gardeners to overwinter them and grow them year-round.
Container growing passionflowers is a good option for those in the Southern United States, where passionflower can be an invasive plant. Passionflower blossoms can be gathered for passionflower tea between mid-summer to early fall.
How to Brew Passionflower Tea
Brewing passionflower tea is as simple as boiling water. It’s easy to find in any health food store, but it you grow your own, it can also be made from fresh leaves and flowers.
Making Tea from Dried Passionflower
- Add 1 teaspoon of dried flowers and leaves to a mug
- Pour over 1 cup of boiling water
- Steep for 10-15 minutes
- Strain and sweeten if desired.
Making Tea from Fresh Passionflower
- Add 1 tablespoon of fresh leaves and flowers to a mug
- Pour over 1 cup of boiling water
- Steep for 10-15 minutes
- Strain and sweeten if desired.
The longer you steep your passionflower tea, the stronger the flavor will be and the more beneficial compounds it will contain. Agitating the passionflower in the water can help it steep more quickly.
Passionflower Tea Is a Relaxing Nightcap
It is tempting for some people to reach for a shot of whiskey or a sleeping pill when they have a hard time winding down in the evening. Passionflower tea is a useful way to achieve the same relaxing effects while also enjoying additional health benefits at the same time.
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