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Dried lemon balm vs. fresh in tea... no contest
After 3 tries with my own dried stash i finally caved and bought fresh lemon balm from the farmers market in Portland last weekend. The flavor is just so much brighter and actually smells like lemon instead of hay. Anyone else find the dried stuff a total letdown?
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masondixon1mo ago
Yeah that "smells like hay" thing is spot on. It's like half the stuff we dry just loses its soul. Kind of reminds me of how store bought tomatoes taste like cardboard compared to a homegrown one still warm from the sun. So much stuff is just better fresh, you know?
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noahclark4d ago
Oh man I totally agree with you! I actually read something from a herbalist once who explained that the essential oils in lemon balm are really volatile and fragile, so drying it just makes them evaporate away. She said if you absolutely have to dry it, you should do it at like the lowest possible temp in a dehydrator and it still wont be as good. Fresh from the farmers market sounds amazing, I might have to try that next time instead of wasting my dried stuff on another sad cup of tea.
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