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I love using my dehydrator. Can I use dried cilantro as tea, or with other herbs to make tea? If so, how would I pick herbs to use with it?

Cascabel
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Barbara Dunaway
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Cilantro is one of the herbs that doesn't retain much flavor when it's dried; it's unlikely to be particularly tasty when made into a tisane. On the other hand, the dried seeds of the plant -- called "coriander (seeds)"* -- have a pleasantly tangy and floral/citrusy taste.

They are occasionally used as a flavoring agent in beer, so it's perfectly reasonable to think of them as a candidate for tisane. The flavor of coriander is not dissimilar to chammomile, and might complement that. It would probably make an interesting mix with black tea, too -- in fact, it should be noted that coriander is sometimes an ingredient in Masala Chai, the sweet Indian tea-milk-spice drink.

*In the US, the leaves are referred to as "cilantro", whereas "coriander" most often means the seeds (although sometimes the leaves).

jscs
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  • Beer is hardly the most common use of coriander - it's a basic spice. It's very common in Indian cuisine, and used plenty elsewhere too. – Cascabel Dec 19 '12 at 04:04
  • I mentioned beer only because it's a beverage like tea, not because of its frequency. I'll make that clearer – jscs Dec 19 '12 at 04:09
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    The wierd cilantro (leaves) and corriander (roots/seeds) distinction arose with the sudden rise in popularity of Mexican/Southwestern cuisine in the 1980s. That cuisine tends to use the Spanish word, and tends to only use the leaves--and so the word cilantro came to mean the leaves in English. Before then, it was always coriander or Chinese parsley for all parts of the plant. – SAJ14SAJ Dec 19 '12 at 10:22
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According to this The Hour For Tea blog entry, cilantro is one of several ingredients in a tisane for which it claims some medical benefits (emphasis added):

Catnip tea was used as a sedative, along with lavender, chamomile, coriander or cilantro; peppermint could also be used to loosen phlegm, and a tisane of thyme with honey was used as a sore throat remedy and for scratchy coughs.

Note that this was not described as tasting good, or even that flavor was the point.

SAJ14SAJ
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Cilantro tea is used in several Ayurvedic remedies. You will need approximately 15 minutes to make cilantro tea. Here you can get how to make Cilantro tea.

rumtscho
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Panjiyar Rahul
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  • Discussing health/nutrition is off-topic, see the [faq]. I removed this portion of your answer and kept the reference to the tea technique. – rumtscho Dec 19 '12 at 17:35
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In Russia (an all xUSSR) tarhun is very popular carbonated sweet drink that made from tarragon. So why don't try using cilantro? Combination with sugar and maybe a little lemon should be ok.

chupvl
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    Well, in Poland its also use as popular sweet drink. I tried the method chupvl described, and it tasted soo good –  Dec 19 '12 at 13:40
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I think cilantro would make a quite unpleasant-tasting tea. For other herbs, I suggest chammomile, peppermint, spearmint, lemongrass: blends work very well for tea. You could also experiment with dried fruit, like blueberries, hawthorn berries, and lemon zest. And, things I'm unsure how to categorize, such as rosehips, rosebuds, blackberry and blueberry leaves. Experiment and have fun! :) Re: other uses for cilantro, I think it works well in Italian and Mexican food.

daisy_ann
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  • Can you explain _why_ you think it would be unplesant, or _why_ you think it works in Italian or Mexican food? Cilantro (as distinct from coriander, the seeds, may actually be the only herb that is _never_ used in Italian cuisine (aside from a rumor I've heard that they use it in Campania). – jscs Dec 19 '12 at 02:41
  • Well, it's just my opinion. I actually find dried cilantro to have a rather strong taste, and consider it as a cooking spice, along the lines of basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme, etc., all of which I would also find unpleasant as a tea. It could just be a matter of personal taste, however... – daisy_ann Dec 19 '12 at 05:49
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    You could transform this from just your opinion into a more informative, expertise-based anwser by describing the flavor and what makes it unsuitable for tea. The ideal behind this site is to build a collection of factual questions, answered with information that is at least somewhat objective and can be applied by anyone who reads it. Your opinion is quite welcome -- personal taste always comes in when discussing food -- but it becomes much more helpful to the asker and to future readers if you can support it with detail and data. – jscs Dec 19 '12 at 06:03
  • As to why I think it works well in Italian and Mexican food, that is pretty much the same (personal preference). Those are my main uses for cilantro, and I just like the way it tastes, and complements other spices. – daisy_ann Dec 19 '12 at 06:06
  • I do not have a wealth of data on cilantro, nor do I care enough about it to seek it........ – daisy_ann Dec 19 '12 at 06:08