A good herbal tea blend is more than just a mix of herbs—it’s a potent formula crafted with intention. Behind every delicious infusion lies a thoughtful selection of plants chosen not only for their taste and appearance, but for the way they work together to support the body. 

Before choosing any herb, ask yourself: Why am I making this tea? Once you know the purpose, it’s much easier to find the right combination of herbs. That’s your base.

Then you also want to think about taste—because let’s be honest, if it doesn’t taste good, you’re probably not going to drink it every day. 

You also have to think about the energetics—how the herbs feel in the body. Some are warming, some are cooling, drying, moistening some hypo or hypertensive. So depending on your own constitution (if you tend to feel cold or warm, dry or damp), you want to choose herbs that help balance that. For example, if you’re often cold, then warming herbs like ginger, rosemary or cinnamon can help.

Another factor is the form of the herbs. Meaning: is it a leaf, a flower, a root, or a bark? Because leaves and flowers are delicate, you can just infuse them in hot water for a few minutes. But roots and barks are tougher and need to simmer longer—what we call a decoction. So it’s better not to mix them in the same blend. If you want to use roots, make a decoction blend. If you’re working with leaves and flowers, then keep it to an infusion. 

To me the look of the blend is very important. A beautiful tea, with colors and shapes brings a whole different energy. When the blend looks good, there’s more chance that the person who drinks it will actually enjoy it. Taste and healing also pass through the eyes—it’s part of how we connect with the plants. When a tea is visually pleasing, we feel more drawn to it, more present with it, and in a way, the medicine lands deeper. For this I like to add roses, calendula or cornflowers to the blends. 

Below are important factors are summarised: 

1. The Purpose of Your Herbal Tea Blend

Before selecting your herbs, determine the purpose of your blend. Are you creating a tea for relaxation, digestion, immune support, or general well-being? The purpose of the tea will guide your choice of base, support, and accent herbs.

2. The Taste Profile

Herbal teas can have a variety of flavors—sweet, floral, earthy, spicy, or bitter. Balancing these flavors ensures a pleasant drinking experience. 

3. The Energetics of the Blend

In traditional herbalism, herbs have different energetic properties—warming, cooling, drying, or moistening. Choosing herbs that balance your body constitution is key. For example, if you tend to feel cold, warming herbs like ginger or cinnamon can be beneficial.

4. The form of herbs

The physical form of herbs affects how they should be blended and brewed.

Infusions: Delicate herbs, leaves, and flowers work well for infusion-based blends. These are steeped in hot water for a few minutes to extract their properties.

Decoctions: Roots, barks, and denser materials require longer simmering to release their benefits. It is best to create separate blends for infusion and decoction to ensure proper extraction.

5. The look of the blend

A beautiful tea with colorful flowers like organge, blue, white, pink feels more special, helps us enjoy it more, and makes it, I believe, more potent. 

The Tea Blending Triangle

Now, let’s structure the tea blends with a technique called the Tea Blending Triangle. It’s a way to create balanced blends, and it really helps if you’re just starting:

Base herbs (40–70%) – These are the main herbs that support the purpose of the blend. I like to use green leafy herbs as based herbs but that's not what all herbalists do. I do so because I want my blend to reflect how the herd garden looks: mostly green with hint of colorful flowers. Base herbs are for example nettle, raspberry leaf, lemon balm, etc. 

Support/Companion herbs (20–40%) – These have similar properties than base herbs and will act in synergy or add additional properties, taste or look to the blend. Examples include yarrow, lemon balm, oat straw, chamomile.

Accent herbs (10–20%) – These are used to balance the energetic, for balancing the taste and/or to make the tea pretty. Accents herbs include peppermint, lavender, roses, calendula, cornflowers, mallow flowers, citrus peels. 

The way you classify herbs into base, support, or accent isn’t fixed. It really depends on why you’re making the blend and how you work with herbs. What’s a base herb in one blend might be just an support herb in another. It’s all about context and intention. So be open to learning how to place herbs depending on your own understanding—how they feel in your body, how they taste to you, and what you want them to bring into the blend. The more you work with herbs, the more natural that becomes.

Example: Kvinnors örtte / Woman’s Tea Blend

Here’s an example from one of my own blends: the Woman’s Tea Blend from Nordiska Örter. It’s made with:

Raspberry leaf (Rubus idaeus) as the base—it’s a classic herb for women’s health.

Nettle (Urtica dioica) and Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) as support herbs—mineral-rich and supportive for overall well-being.

Rose petals (Rosa rugosa) and Sage (Salvia officinalis) as accent herbs—beautiful, aromatic, and bring extra benefits.

It’s inspired by a traditional blend from an herbalist Germaine Cousin of an old village in French moutains. This blend is meant for supporting women at all stages of life. I've adapted it using common herbs found in Sweden and added roses for a more beautiful appearance. 

Want to learn how to create your own blends?

I teach all of this in the workshop on herbal tea blending. You’ll learn how to choose herbs with purpose, how to balance taste and energetics, and how to make a tea that’s both beautiful and healing. You’ll leave with confidence, inspiration and your own tea blend created with purpose.  

Just remember this: set your intention first.

Think of the person who will drink this tea (even if it’s just you). What do they need? What will help them feel better? Then start blending. And trust yourself—because a good tea blend isn’t just about herbs. It’s also about the care and thought you put into it.