How to Prepare the Best Chamomile Tea: From a Tea Bag or Dried Flowers

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Brew, steep, and flavor a steaming cup of manzanilla tea

Co-authored by Melissa Salazar

Last Updated: June 9, 2025 Approved

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Making Chamomile Tea

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Flavoring Chamomile Tea

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Ingredients

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Video

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Tips

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Things You'll Need

Chamomile tea can aid with sleep and promote relaxation. You can dry your own chamomile flowers and make your own tea. However, if you don't want to plant and dry your own flowers, you can buy dry chamomile flowers online or at a local grocery store. It only takes a few minutes to brew a cup of chamomile tea.

How do I make chamomile tea?

Certified tea master Melissa Salazar says that chamomile is a delicate herb, so it's important to keep the steep time short and not make the water too hot. Bring fresh spring water to about 200 °F (93 °C). Place the chamomile in an infuser and steep it for around 2 minutes. If you like, add lemon or honey.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon of dried chamomile flowers
8 ounces of water

Part 1

Part 1 of 2:

Making Your Tea

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If you're using an infuser, use about a tablespoon of dried chamomile.^{[1]
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Heat your water. Use a tea kettle or pot to heat water for your tea. Heat the water until it boils.^{[2]
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Nicole Wilson
Tea Expert

Expert Interview}^{[3]
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- You should not let the water boil for long. Remove the water from the heat as soon as you see small bubbles forming.
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Dump out the tap water in your teacup or mug. Pour in the boiling water.^{[4]
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Steep the tea for five minutes. Place your infusion device in the water. Cover the tea and allow it steep for five minutes.^{[5]
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Julie Brow-Polanco
Master Herbalist & Certified Aromatherapist

Expert Interview} Then, remove the infusion device or tea bag. You can now enjoy your tea.^{[6]
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Nicole Wilson
Tea Expert

Expert Interview}^{[7]
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- If you want, you can flavor your tea with things like sugar, lemon, or honey. You can also drink the tea without any added ingredients.
- If you steep your tea longer, it will have more medicinal properties, but will taste stronger, too.^{[8]
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  Julie Brow-Polanco
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Part 2

Part 2 of 2:

Flavoring Your Tea

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Try adding honey. If you want to add a bit of sweetness to your tea, try adding a small spoonful of honey. Honey has antifungal, antibacterial, and antimicrobial properties. It can potentially boost your health as well as sweetening your tea.^{[9]
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- Honey is very sweet, so a little goes a long way. Add only a small teaspoon of honey to a cup of tea.
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Add milk for a hint of sweetness. If you dislike sweetening your tea too much, consider adding milk. Milk can add a mild, creamy flavor that is somewhat sweet. However, it will not make your tea too sugary. Just make sure not to use milk if you're lactose intolerant.^{[10]
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- Some people find milk helps them fall asleep. While the truth of this claim is unclear, if milk has helped you sleep in the past, it may help you fall asleep when mixed with chamomile tea.
Sugar can add a lot of calories to tea unnecessarily. If you want to sweeten your tea, but do not want the extra calories found in sugar, opt for artificial sweeteners. Something like stevia, sold in most supermarkets, can be used to sweeten tea.^{[11]
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Try fresh fruit or fruit products. For a healthy option to sweeten your tea, go for fruit. Try adding a few slices of apple or a few blueberries to your tea. You can also add something like fruit juice to add a little sweetness to your tea.^{[12]
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- If you're trying to cut back on sugar, make sure to avoid juices with added sugar.

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Tips

You can warm your teacup or mug if you'd like, before making the tea. Take the pot or mug that you're going to use to strain the tea. Fill it with hot tap water from the sink. This will warm up the mug, allowing the tea to steep more easily.^{[13]
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To make tea from fresh chamomile leaves, you will need to increase the surface area of the leaves by chopping them up. The chopped leaves should equal 1 tablespoon of plant material for one 8 oz. cup of tea.^{[14]
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