Here is how to make avocado leaf tea in one line: briefly toast two or three leaves of the Mexican avocado in a dry pan, then pour water at about 95C over them (or simmer them gently) and steep for five to ten minutes until the liquid turns pale gold with a soft, sweet, licorice-like taste. It is the leaf that makes this caffeine-free infusion, not the creamy green fruit. The cup carries a scent of anise and toasted hazelnut, and you can round it out with a cinnamon stick or a spoonful of honey.
Below is a full avocado leaf tea recipe with amounts, an ordered method, a quick reference table for fresh versus dried leaves, and a light, non-medical note on enjoying it sensibly. If leaf-and-flower infusions are new to you, our overview of what herbal tea is covers the groundwork so we can keep the focus here on the leaves themselves.
What avocado leaf tea is
Avocado leaf tea — known in Mexico as hoja de aguacate tea — is a warm, caffeine-free infusion made by steeping the fragrant leaves of the Mexican avocado in hot water. The flavour is the whole reason to make it. Toasted avocado leaves give off a clear anise or licorice note with a nutty, faintly sweet edge, a little like tarragon or fennel crossed with toasted hazelnut. Steeped, they turn the water a pale gold and lend it that same gentle sweetness without any bitterness.
The leaves have a long culinary life well beyond the teacup. In Mexican cooking, whole or ground avocado leaves are a classic aromatic herb: cooks toast them over a flame and lay them into pots of black beans, tuck them into barbacoa and mixiotes wrapped for slow cooking, and blend them into moles and adobos, where they add a sweet, anise-scented perfume. Brewing the same leaves as a tea simply takes that kitchen aroma and turns it into something you can sip. If you enjoy other teas made from culinary aromatics, it sits naturally alongside bay leaf tea and warm-spice cups like cinnamon tea.
Which avocado leaves to use
Not every avocado leaf is the right one. The leaves prized in cooking — and the ones you want for tea — come from the Mexican avocado, Persea americana var. drymifolia. Their defining feature is that sweet anise scent: crush a fresh leaf and it should smell distinctly of licorice or aniseed. That fragrance is your signal that you have the culinary variety rather than a leaf from a different avocado type, whose leaves are less suited to eating.
A few pointers for choosing leaves:
- Go by the aroma. A genuine Mexican avocado leaf smells clearly of anise when bruised. No anise scent, no tea.
- Use unsprayed trees. If you are picking fresh leaves, take them from a tree you know has not been treated with pesticides, and give them a rinse.
- Dried is easy to find. Whole dried avocado leaves are sold as a cooking herb in many spice shops and markets; they keep their anise character well and are ready whenever you want a cup.
- Correctly identify the plant. If you are ever unsure what you are foraging, check with someone who knows the tree before you brew it.
What you need for avocado leaves tea
This is a forgiving recipe — the amounts are a starting point, not a rule. Per cup you will need:
- 2 to 3 avocado leaves, fresh or dried
- About 250 ml (1 cup) water, just off the boil, roughly 95C
- Optional: a small cinnamon stick for warmth
- Optional sweetener: honey, or a little piloncillo (unrefined cane sugar) or plain sugar
- Optional: a thin strip of orange peel or a squeeze of citrus to lift the aroma
You do not need special equipment — a small saucepan or a mug and a strainer will do. For two or three cups, simply scale the leaves and water up together.
How to make avocado leaf tea, step by step
Here is how to make avocado leaf tea from start to finish. Toasting the leaves first is optional but recommended, because a short dry-toast deepens the anise-and-hazelnut flavour noticeably.
- Toast the leaves (optional). Warm a dry pan over medium heat and lay in the avocado leaves for 20 to 40 seconds a side, until they smell fragrant and turn a shade darker. Do not let them scorch. This step is what gives the cup its toasty depth.
- Heat the water. Bring your water to just off the boil, around 95C. Boiling and then resting it for half a minute is close enough — you do not need a thermometer.
- Combine. Put the leaves, and the cinnamon stick if using, in a mug or small pot and pour the hot water over them. For a deeper, more savoury cup, instead add the leaves to the water in the pan and simmer them gently rather than steeping.
- Cover and steep. Put a lid or saucer over the top and leave it for 5 to 10 minutes. Covering keeps the aromatic oils in the cup instead of drifting off as steam, and the longer you go, the deeper the colour and flavour.
- Strain. Lift out or strain off the leaves. They are not meant to be eaten whole in the cup.
- Sweeten and serve. Taste, then add honey, piloncillo, or sugar if you like. Serve it hot. Because it is naturally caffeine-free, it suits an evening as easily as a morning.
If you want to fine-tune your technique across all your infusions, our guide to brewing herbal tea goes deeper on water temperature, timing, and getting the strength right.
| Leaf form | Method | Steep or simmer time |
|---|---|---|
| Fresh leaves, 2-3 per cup | Toast briefly, pour 95C water over, cover | 5-7 minutes |
| Dried leaves, 2-3 per cup | Toast lightly, steep in just-off-boil water, cover | 7-10 minutes |
| For a deeper cup, any form | Add leaves to the water and simmer gently, lid on | 5-10 minutes |
Toasted versus untoasted leaves
Both work, and the difference is worth tasting side by side. Untoasted leaves, simply steeped, give a lighter, greener, more floral cup with a soft anise thread running through it. Toasted leaves give a rounder, warmer, nuttier result — more toasted hazelnut and caramelised sweetness, with the licorice note pushed forward. If you are making the tea for the first time, toast one batch and steep another so you can decide which you prefer. Many people land on a light toast as the sweet spot.
How to store dried avocado leaves
Dried avocado leaves keep well, which is part of their appeal. Store them whole in an airtight jar or tin, away from light, heat, and moisture — a cupboard shelf is ideal. Kept dry, they hold their anise aroma for many months; the scent, not the calendar, is your best guide, so if a leaf has lost its fragrance it will make a flat cup. Fresh leaves can be air-dried on a tray for a few days and then stored the same way, a handy way to bank a harvest from an unsprayed tree.
Enjoying avocado leaf tea safely
Keep this simple and sensible. Stick to the culinary Mexican avocado leaf — Persea americana var. drymifolia — in the kind of normal food amounts used in cooking, and enjoy it as an occasional cup rather than something you drink by the litre. Some sources suggest going easy on large, concentrated amounts, and the leaves of some other avocado types are less well suited to eating, which is one more reason to be sure you have the correct, anise-scented culinary leaf.
As with any botanical infusion, responses vary from person to person, and this is not medical advice. If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, or you take any medication, it is worth checking with your own healthcare provider before making avocado leaf tea a regular habit. Used this way — the right leaf, a light hand, and an occasional golden cup — avocado leaf tea is an easy, aromatic addition to your infusion shelf.