Try this I-Burn Tea recipe, or contribute your own.
- Carbohydrate 12.44141500325 g
- Cholesterol 0 mg
- Fat 0.928485001160193 g
- Fiber 3.95359994456497 g
- Protein 1.97970500141552 g
- Saturated Fat 0.092395000092363 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (383g)
- Sodium 22.8483333624855 mg
- Sugar 8.48781505868503 g
- Trans Fat 0.265955000157742 g
- Calories 46 calories
Step-by-step
- Pour the water into a pot.
- Slice the lemons in half, squeeze the juice into the water, and drop the rinds into the water.
- Add the parsley, celery seed and cayenne pepper.
- Bring to a boil, then let the tea steep for 1 to 2 hours.
- Filter out the solids and store in the refrigerator.
- Reheat as needed.
- If you need a little more sweetness, add a few drops of stevia.
Unlike standard black or green infusions that rely on Camellia sinensis leaves and brief hot water contact, herbal decoctions require extended thermal extraction to pull flavor compounds from dense seeds and citrus rinds. Water is brought to a full boil at 212 degrees Fahrenheit before heat is removed for the steeping phase, ensuring cellular walls in the celery seed and dried parsley soften adequately. Disregarding the requirement for dried parsley by substituting fresh herbs will introduce excess moisture and grassy chlorophyll notes that unbalance the citrus acidity.
Botanical Extraction and Infusion Mechanics
Extracting flavor from celery seed requires thermal energy and time because the volatile oils are trapped within hard seed coats. Letting the mixture sit covered for up to two hours allows water-soluble compounds to fully saturate the liquid without scorching the delicate citrus oils from the nine squeezed lemons. Straining the warm liquid through a fine-mesh sieve removes all particulate matter prior to chilling, which prevents continued, unwanted bitterness from the white pith of the lemon rinds.
- Using fresh parsley instead of the specified 3 tablespoons of dried herb throws off the liquid-to-solids ratio.
- Failing to strain the solids before refrigeration causes the mixture to over-extract and turn unpleasantly bitter within 24 hours.
- Adding stevia drops directly to individual warmed portions rather than the bulk batch lets drinkers calibrate sweetness precisely to their palate.
