Honeysuckle Iced Tea ~ this sweet, floral, and refreshing drink made from honeysuckle blossoms is the perfect thing to sip on a warm summer day!
Honeysuckle Iced Tea celebrates the arrival of spring
With Easter and Passover behind us, spring is really and truly here. The honeysuckle vine draped across my front porch is in bloom, and every time I go in or out I’m blown away by the scent. I’ve been determined to use those incredible – edible flowers somehow. I’m always inspired by ingredients I can find in my own yard, (or my neighbor’s!) Over the last three years we’ve moved so often that I’ve tried to reduce the sting by challenging myself to find the elements in each new landscape that I can incorporate into my cooking.
I tried to make you a honeysuckle ice cream, but I’m going to have to keep working on that one, the flavor just didn’t come through. (Update: recipe for Honeysuckle Ice Cream here!) Honeysuckle tea is more mainstream, in fact its been used medicinally by the Chinese for thousands of years. I love it for its delicate scent, and the nectar is sweeter than honey. I was amazed by how much flavor I got out of a jarful of flowers. If you have access to a vine, you’ve got to try this.
Honeysuckle tea is made with the delicate white and yellow flowers of the Japanese Honeysuckle vine.
It’s considered an invasive species, so gardeners and conservationists don’t like it, but it is pretty common, so chances are there’s a vine or two near you. The flowers come in pairs, and you’ll want to pluck them right at their base, where the nectar is. Look for freshly opened flowers, and avoid or pick out the leaves, stems, and berries.
How to make honeysuckle tea
- The tea is made by pouring scalding water over the blossoms, and letting it cool at room temperature.
- Then you can chill your infusion in the refrigerator.
- I left mine overnight before straining it through a coffee filter.
Honeysuckle tea has a lovely pale celadon color, a light floral scent, and a surprisingly sweet flavor.
Pour over ice, and add a sprig of mint. Whatever you do, though, don’t add honey before tasting your tea — it’s incredibly sweet all by itself. You might want a squeeze of lemon if you don’t like sweet tea.
If you’ve got a honeysuckle vine blooming nearby, be sure to try my other honeysuckle recipes:
(Note: always make sure you’ve identified a plant accurately before eating it. If you need help identifying Japanese Honeysuckle, check out this article.)
Honeysuckle Iced Tea
Ingredients
- about 2 cups honeysuckle blossoms
garnish
- fresh mint sprigs
- a few honeysuckle blossoms
Instructions
- Pluck the blossoms from the honeysuckle vine. Discard any leaves or green parts. Try to take the freshly opened flowers, and even the buds that are about to open. Put them in a pitcher or mason jar.
- Cover with about 2 1/2 cups water that has been heated to just boiling. Give it a good stir and let steep at room temperature for several hours. Then refrigerate overnight.
- Strain the tea through a fine mesh strainer, cheesecloth, or a coffee filter. The coffee filter will yield a crystal clear tea.
- Serve cold over ice with a mint sprig and a few blossoms for garnish.
40 Comments
Kaitlyn
July 19, 2020 at 4:21 pmHowdy, would you know if this would work well for flowers that have been dehydrated or do they have to be fresh?
Sue
July 19, 2020 at 6:39 pmDehydrated flowers should work just fine.
Susan
June 14, 2020 at 6:53 amI don’t have any honey suckles but I have gardenia bushes. Are they edible
Sue
June 14, 2020 at 6:57 amGardenia blossoms are edible, but I haven’t tried making tea with them.
Sydney
May 22, 2020 at 2:29 amI tried making honeysuckle tea today but it turned out really bitter! Have you ever had this happen? Do you have any advice? Thank you!
BeLinda Stark
May 18, 2020 at 4:25 pmI want to know how long this tea csn last-I made my newest batch over this past weekend & have 4 botyles of it
Sue
May 18, 2020 at 5:11 pmIt will last longer if you’ve strained it very finely, like through the coffee filter. But generally I would drink up within a couple of weeks.
Diana Thompson
May 10, 2020 at 9:09 amI just got my brewing! Thank you for this great post!
Claudia Peters
June 1, 2019 at 9:53 amI’m new to this website. I love your honesty. It’s so refreshing. I also love honeysuckle. I’m anxious to try the tea. Thank you
Sue
June 1, 2019 at 11:07 amThanks Claudia <3
Kate
May 12, 2019 at 10:32 amIs this a concentrate or the actual amount of tea it makes? Like is it single serve or makes multiple servings with the 2 cups of honeysuckle?
Sue
May 12, 2019 at 10:49 amThis is the actual tea, so you would make a bigger batch for more servings. If you wanted a lighter flavor you could treat it as a concentrate, and dilute with more water, or even green tea.
Aika Ignacio
February 5, 2019 at 2:34 pmGreat post, Sue! The photos look amazing and sweet. Thank you for sharing your recipe. According to my research, honeysuckle is good for treating digestive disorders, colds, headache, diabetes and cancer. My mom loves to make smoothies and teas that contain nutritional benefits and I would definitely recommend this to her.
Sue
May 12, 2019 at 10:50 amThanks Aika!
Cynthia A Blaese
August 4, 2017 at 6:09 pmWow! I love the smell, so a tea actually sounds really good. Love this idea Sue, and your photos are lovely.
Sue
August 4, 2017 at 6:20 pmThanks Cynthia, I have fun experimenting with these blossoms, and since I have a vine out front I try to do something different with them every year.
Wendy
June 30, 2016 at 5:01 amMmmm….this looks divine! A refreshing treat for a hot summer day! Can’t wait to try it! Thank you for sharing the magic!
Jason Motley
April 30, 2016 at 5:38 pmI know this is a late post but I just found this. I’d like your thoughts on where I went wrong. My tea came out rather bitter. I don’t want to add anything to it and I’m not a person that likes to add sugar to tea. Any ideas?
Sue
April 30, 2016 at 5:42 pmIs it possible you got bits of green in your tea, Jason? The green parts of the flower can be bitter.
An Anonymous Honeysuckle Tea Fan
October 8, 2014 at 2:13 amWith honeysuckle tea currently in the spotlights for it’s effectiveness against flu, it’s great to come across such a nice recipe. The pics look amazing. Out of all the iced tea recipes that I have come across this is one that I have to try 😉
Helen Mcconnell
October 1, 2014 at 9:21 amCan you dry the flowers for storage? I wonder if they will still taste the same. I have a massive amount if Honeysuckle that covers my whole backyard fence, can’t wait to try this:)
Sue
October 1, 2014 at 9:58 amYou could try, absolutely. Most teas are in dried form, so I don’t see why not!
Bonnie Eng
April 28, 2014 at 1:47 pmWow, your pictures are soooo beautify! I’m just back from Hawaii this week…this reminds me of Pikake (Jasmine Flower) Iced Tea…love this!! =)
Sue
April 28, 2014 at 1:55 pmI would love to taste the Jasmine iced tea, I bet it’s similar!
Kitchen Belleicious
April 22, 2014 at 5:52 amSue! This brings back so many memories! We used to live on this road growing up that was lined with honeysuckle trees. Everyday in the summer we would go ride bikes and pick the honeysuckes to suck. It was so much fun and makes me smile thinking about it! This tea looks delicious
Joanne
April 22, 2014 at 5:23 amWhen I was in elementary school, my friends and I used to eat the honey drops from the honeysuckle in the schoolyard. Good memories. I’m sure it is such a lovely note of flavor in this iced tea!
Stacy | Wicked Good Kitchen
April 21, 2014 at 3:25 pmI’m headed over to your house, Sue! I adore the scent and flavor of honeysuckle as it brings back those early childhood food memories and of springtime. There’s nothing else quite like it. Perhaps, with your tea, you have an answer for your ice cream? I think a honeysuckle tea sherbet (granita) or ice cream (gelato?) would be lovely!
Sue
April 21, 2014 at 3:48 pmI’ll be waiting for you on the porch with a nice tall glass!
cheri
April 21, 2014 at 2:48 pmWhat a refreshing looking tea, was not aware that honey-suckle was edible. Love the way they smell so I can only imagine how wonderful the taste must be.
Laura (Tutti Dolci)
April 21, 2014 at 12:59 pmWhat a refreshing tea, the honeysuckle must add such a nice flavor!
Louise @ INGREDIENTS
April 21, 2014 at 11:29 amHi Sue, thanks for posting this – I am totally fascinated! Japanese honeysuckle came up on my radar last year, when I came across a few organic cosmetic brands that were using Japanese honeysuckle extract as a preservative. I don’t know anyone who has a vine but will look for it the next time I go to the garden centre.
Your honeysuckle tea is reminds me of elderflower cordial which is very popular in Sweden. My husband told me of how his grandmother would pick bundles of elderflowers from the tree in her yard and boil it in sugar syrup to create the cordial. It is an incredibly refreshing drink, especially in the summer time.
Sue
April 21, 2014 at 12:21 pmThis is really opening up my mind to different ways to eat and drink. The cordial sounds great, is it alcoholic? I know St Germain is made from elderflower, can you imagine a honeysuckle liquor? Now I have to check that out!
Louise @ INGREDIENTS
April 21, 2014 at 5:11 pmNo, the elderflower cordial is not alcoholic. We buy ours at Ikea – not sure if the Ikea stores in the U.S. stock the same foods as in Canada. I’ve also seen elderflower cordial at delicatessens that specialize in Northern and Eastern European foods. I have heard of St. Germain but have yet to taste it – I must try and find it, I’m sure it would make an excellent cocktail!
Chris @ The Café Sucré Farine
April 21, 2014 at 11:29 amI want to come and sit on your front porch Sue! This is so beautiful, I’m not sure I could drink it. I think I’d just want to sit and stare at it 🙂
Sue
April 21, 2014 at 12:22 pmCome on over for a visit 🙂
Helen @ Scrummy Lane
April 21, 2014 at 9:59 amI had no idea that honeysuckle was edible. But as it is, what a lovely idea to make a tea with it. Aren’t the flowers beautiful?
Sue
April 21, 2014 at 11:08 amYou know, the more I learn, the more things ARE edible, it makes sense, really. It’s hard to believe those little flowers pack such a sweet punch!
Tricia @ Saving room for dessert
April 21, 2014 at 9:25 amLovely tea Sue! This brought back so many memories. As a child, I remember pulling the green stem out from the back of the flower and tasting the nectar from those lovely honeysuckle vines! A sweet memory indeed 🙂
Sue
April 21, 2014 at 9:29 amI never did that, so the flavor is new to me.
Lois Comena
May 25, 2020 at 2:17 pmI just noticed Honeysuckle’ in my backyard…actually they have been there year after year. My sister really brought them to my attention and so we goggled information on them and came across your blog. I’m making some tea right now. Thanks for the recipe