January 16, 2019

Government Shutdown Tea: The ultimate anti-anxiety tea recipe to smooth over your worries

By Virginia Streva
PhillyVoice Staff

Thom Carroll/PhillyVoice

Government shutdown tea.

Lots of things cause stress, but you know what makes stress worse? Not getting a paycheck. Or maybe just watching the news in general. Or maybe the fact that you just won the National Championship against Alabama and somehow the leader of the free world thinks you’re only worth cheeseburgers from McDonalds.

Whatever it is, stress comes in different ways, and during a time like this, we all need a little bit of smoothness to ease into our day. This tea is designed to uplift your mood, soothe your anxiety, and give you just a bit of “ahhh” when the news makes you want to scream. It won’t make it go away, but it’ll at least help you feel a little bit better about dealing with it.

Lemon balm is perfect for melting anxiety and soothing those fried nerves that leave you sleepless wondering about the news. Hibiscus comes in to lower your blood pressure and also contains anti-depressant properties as well as vitamin C. Peppermint and cinnamon add just a hint of melting your cares away while the elderflower offers an upbeat flavor that is anti-inflammatory and adds a bit of ‘wisdom’ where we all need it most.

Government Shutdown Tea
1 tsp elderflower
3/4 tsp peppermint
3/4 tsp lemon balm
About 2-3 dried hibiscus flowers or about 1 tsp of crushed flowers
1 cinnamon stick
Sugar or honey to taste

Take roughly 2-3 dried hibiscus flowers and crush them. Often times they’re sold already crushed, use about 1 tsp if so. For the cinnamon stick, break it apart into small pieces so it steeps better. Also feel free to just “eye” the ingredients. It doesn’t have to be exact. Tea can be pretty forgiving.

Add all the contents into a tea bag, rest the bag in a tea cup and pour boiling water over it. (Make sure the water truly is boiling and not just hot. It won't steep as well if it's not boiling.) Let it steep for about 15 minutes.

May the stress melt away...or maybe it'll just go away to its spray tan appointment and while it's not looking the government will magically fix itself. Though that hasn't worked yet, so maybe just keep drinking tea.