Avocado lovers everywhere rejoice. There’s more to enjoy than just the tasty fruit. Now, an avocado leaf tea is taking the stage and making waves.
After nearly a decade of avocados dominating the health food scene, some wellness brands are looking to incorporate more of the popular plant into their routine. Avocado leaf tea has appeared on health food blogs these past few years and is taking off.
This tea is made using the dried leaves of the avocado tree and has a long history in Mesoamerican and Mexican culture. It can be used as a spice, in addition to a healthful tea, and offers a wide range of benefits. This tea is most commonly paired with floral herbs to create a delicately balanced and delicious tea for you to add to your own wellness routine.
A Brief History of Avocado Leaf Tea
The avocado tree dates back between 7,000 and 5,000 BCE, with possible origins in Mexico, Guatemala, or West India. The avocado tree, or Persea Americana, is a member of the Lauraceae family of flowering plants.
We’re all familiar with the avocado fruit, a star in the superfood world over the past decade. Now people are singing the praises of the avocado leaf as a nutritious and delicious addition to their diet.
Avocado leaves aren’t new to the world, though. The ingredient is a popular seasoning in Mexican dishes. It provides a slightly bitter, anise flavor to the food, making it a popular add-on for savory dishes such as soups, stews, and meat dishes.
Avocado trees were also a popular source of medicine dating back to early Mesoamerican days. The leaves, flesh, and seed were all used to treat issues such as hypertension, stomachaches, and diabetes.
Mesoamerican tribes believed avocados had mythological powers that provided them with strength. Spanish explorers took a liking to avocados in the 1500s. By the late 1800s, the avocado had made its way to America.
Today, avocados have become a global health star and are grown worldwide to help cope with the demand.
Avocado Leaf Tea skyrocketed in popularity when a company of the same name opened in California in 2019, bringing herbal blends starring avocado leaf tea to the forefront of wellness culture.
How Does Avocado Leaf Tea Taste?
Avocado Leaf Tea tastes reminiscent of the slight anise flavor it’s known for in Mexican cuisine. The taste is earthy and delicate. The tea gives off a warm red hue. The tea has a delightful, smooth texture that goes down easy and leaves you warm.
This herbal tea is perfect for those who want a more herbaceous and rustic flavor in their tea rather than the sweetness associated with other popular herbal teas like chamomile and rose.
The delicate earthy flavor makes it a perfect base for herbal blends for those who want a little more complexity. Popular tea blends include sweeter herbs like chamomile or lemon balm, which work together to create a delicate balance in flavors.
How to Brew Avocado Leaf Tea
Herbal tea has the longest brewing time out of any tea. Unlike tea from the Camellia Sinensis plant, herbals aren’t prone to bitterness after long brews. Instead, you’ll want to brew it for a minimum of 10 minutes to maximize the nutritional benefits and get the most flavor.
You can likely find whole, dried avocado leaves at a Latin American grocery store. They’re roughly the size of a bay leaf. You’ll want to use at least three for a pot of tea, and make sure to wash any residue off before brewing.
Some herbalists recommend filling the pot to the brim with leaves. This method provides the maximum amount of nutritional benefits out of the plants.
Herbal tea uses boiling water, 212 degrees Fahrenheit or 100 degrees Celsius, and should be steeped for 10 to 15 minutes. You can brew your tea in a teapot or allow it to simmer in a pot on the stove.
Nutrition and Health Benefits of Avocado Leaf Tea
Avocado has been praised as the ultimate superfood for years now. They’re a nutrient-dense fruit with a fat content that makes them even more desirable to our modern pallets. Even with all the hype, avocado leaves may outdo the fruit in terms of nutrient density.
Avocado leaves are known to have quercetin, a powerful antioxidant that can help reduce free radicals in the body and improve inflammation.
Researchers are looking into the full benefits of avocado leaf tea, but some believe it could be an effective treatment for colds, flu, stomachaches, high blood pressure, and arthritis.
Some also suspect the anti-inflammatory benefits of avocado leaf tea can help with all sorts of inflammation-based conditions. Some researchers found it a helpful addition to a wellness routine for those with seizures, type 2 diabetes, and asthma. It can potentially reduce overall inflammation and symptoms. Some researchers believe that alkaloids, flavonoids, and sapanoids can help break down kidney stones by drinking 2 cups per day.
As an herbal tea, avocado leaf tea is 100% caffeine free. You can enjoy it at any time of day or night without worrying about jitters or sleep disturbances.
Summary
Avocado leaf tea has been around since the early days of Mesoamerica but has gained popularity in the past few years. Praise or the tea follows behind the avocado fruit, a well-known health staple with countless nutritional benefits, including high levels of vitamins and antioxidants. The tea brews to a warm red color and tastes slightly bitter and reminiscent of anise. This herbal remedy is caffeine free so enjoy it at any time of day or night for a quiet moment to yourself.
