Spring Teas: Digestive, Cleansing & Nourishing Herbal Blends

Spring is a natural time to begin shifting our herbal routines.

After the slower pace of winter, spring invites us to move, breathe, eat, and spend more time outdoors again. Traditionally, spring herbalism has often focused on supporting digestion and elimination while nourishing the body as it becomes more active.

Rather than thinking about a seasonal “cleanse” as something harsh or restrictive, I like to think about spring as a time to gently support the body’s natural processes while continuing to nourish ourselves.

Here are three spring-inspired herbal blends: a digestive tea, a spring cleanse blend prepared as a decoction, and a nourishing tonic tea prepared as a long infusion.

Digest Tea (Long Infusion)

Digest Tea

Ingredients

• 2 parts ginger (Zingiber officinale)

• 1 part dandelion root (Taraxacum officinale)

• 1 part spearmint (Mentha spicata)

• 1 part peppermint (Mentha × piperita)

• 1 part chamomile (Matricaria recutita)

• 1 part fennel (Foeniculum vulgare)

This blend can be enjoyed around meals as a digestive tea or used as a general digestive tonic.

Ginger, mint, chamomile, fennel, and dandelion each bring their own traditional herbal qualities to the blend, creating a warming and aromatic tea that pairs particularly well with food.

This is also a lovely blend to reach for when you’re experiencing occasional digestive discomfort or nausea.

The goal isn’t simply to choose one herb for one symptom. Herbalism allows us to think about the digestive system as a whole—including digestive secretions, the mucosal lining, the liver, and the relationship between digestion and nutrient absorption.

Preparation

Combine the herbs according to the proportions above.

Use the finished blend to prepare a standard herbal infusion. Pour freshly boiled water over the herbs, cover, and allow to steep before straining.

Enjoy around meals or whenever you want a warming digestive tea.

Nourishing Tonic Tea (long infusion)

Nourishing Tonic Tea

Ingredients

• 2 parts nettle (Urtica dioica)

• 1 part milky oat (Avena sativa)

• ½ part spearmint (Mentha spicata)

• ½ part gotu kola (Centella asiatica)

This blend is designed as a nourishing herbal tea, particularly for providing minerals and other plant constituents that have traditionally been used to support the body’s tissues.

Nettle and milky oat are especially well suited to this type of preparation, while spearmint adds a refreshing flavor and gotu kola brings another traditional botanical element to the blend.

This isn’t a tea that needs to be rushed.

Preparation: Long Infusion

This blend is best prepared as a long infusion.

Place the herbs in a heat-safe container and pour freshly boiled water over them.

Cover and allow the herbs to steep for several hours or overnight.

Strain before drinking.

A long infusion gives the water considerably more time to extract water-soluble minerals and other constituents from the plant material.

This is one of my favorite examples of why how we prepare an herb matters.

The same plant can produce a very different preparation depending on the amount of herb used, the temperature of the water, and how long we allow it to extract.

Spring Cleanse Blend (decoction)

Spring Cleanse Blend

Ingredients

• 2 parts burdock root (Arctium lappa)

• 1 part dandelion root (Taraxacum officinale)

• ½ part nettle (Urtica dioica)

• 1 part eleuthero root (Eleutherococcus senticosus)

• ½ part licorice root (Glycyrrhiza glabra)

• ¼ part calendula (Calendula officinalis)

Spring has traditionally been associated with supporting digestion, elimination, and the body’s transition from the slower winter season.

This blend brings together roots, leaves, and flowers traditionally used in herbalism for digestive and systemic support.

I prefer to think of this as supporting the body’s natural processes rather than forcing a “detox.”

Preparation: Decoction

Because this blend contains several roots, a decoction is the preferred preparation.

Combine the herbs with water and gently simmer on the stove for approximately 10–15 minutes.

Remove from the heat, strain, and allow the tea to cool enough to drink.

The simmering process helps extract constituents from the tougher plant materials, particularly the roots.

Understanding Seasonal Herbalism

Spring doesn’t have to mean deprivation, aggressive cleansing, or restrictive diets.

It can simply be a time to become more intentional about supporting digestion, elimination, nourishment, movement, and the transition into a more active season.

These three preparations demonstrate three different approaches:

Digest Tea — an aromatic digestive blend for around meals or general digestive support.

Spring Cleanse Blend — a root-heavy blend prepared as a decoction to support traditional springtime herbal practices.

Nourishing Tonic Tea — a mineral-rich blend prepared as a long infusion to maximize extraction of water-soluble constituents.

The more we learn about our herbs, the more we begin to understand that herbalism isn’t only about which plant we choose.

It’s also about how we prepare it, why we’re preparing it that way, and how the preparation changes what we receive from the plant.

That is where herbalism starts to become a relationship rather than simply a list of herbs and their uses.

Safety note: These blends are educational examples of traditional herbal preparations and aren’t intended to diagnose, treat, or cure disease. Herbs can interact with medications and may not be appropriate during pregnancy, breastfeeding, or with certain health conditions. In particular, licorice root can affect blood pressure and potassium levels and may interact with medications, so it deserves additional caution with regular use.