To make chamomile tea, steep chamomile flowers — dried or fresh — or a single tea bag in just-boiled water for about 5 minutes, then strain and sip. Because chamomile is a caffeine-free herbal tisane rather than a true tea, learning how to make chamomile tea is refreshingly forgiving: you can steep it longer and hotter than green tea without it turning bitter, so it is hard to get wrong.
Below is the full method, plus a quick reference table for amounts and steep times, notes on fresh versus dried flowers, how to brew a stronger cup, and whether you can re-steep the same chamomile. If you want the wider picture of what a tisane is, our guide to what herbal tea is covers the category; here we focus purely on the brewing.
How to Make Chamomile Tea, Step by Step
The whole process takes about five minutes of steeping and almost no skill. Here is how to make chamomile tea from start to finish.
1. Choose your chamomile
You have three easy options, and all of them work:
- Tea bag — the simplest route. Use one bag per cup. Most bagged chamomile is dried German chamomile broken into small pieces, which brews quickly.
- Loose dried flowers — use about 1 tablespoon of whole dried chamomile flowers per cup (roughly 240 ml / 8 oz). Whole flowers give a rounder, honey-like flavor than crushed bag chamomile.
- Fresh flowers — if you grow chamomile, use about 2 tablespoons of freshly picked blooms per cup. You need more because fresh flowers hold water and are less concentrated than dried. Rinse them gently first.
Whichever you pick, a small strainer or infuser makes loose flowers far easier to handle at the end.
2. Boil the water
Bring fresh water to a full rolling boil, around 100 C (212 F). Unlike delicate green tea, which scorches at boiling temperature, chamomile actually benefits from properly hot water — it helps draw out the aromatic oils and the gentle apple-and-honey character the flower is known for. If your kettle has been sitting, refresh it with cold water so the cup tastes lively.
3. Steep for about 5 minutes
Pour the just-boiled water over your chamomile and let it steep for about 5 minutes for a clean, light cup. For a stronger, more soothing brew, leave it 5 to 10 minutes. This is where chamomile shines: because it contains no tannins to speak of and no caffeine, a long steep deepens the flavor rather than turning it harsh and astringent the way over-steeped black or green tea does.
4. Cover the cup while it steeps
Rest a saucer, lid, or small plate over the cup or teapot as it brews. Chamomile's calming aroma comes from volatile oils that would otherwise drift off in the rising steam. Covering the cup traps those oils and lets them settle back into the liquid, giving you a more fragrant, fuller-flavored result. It is a tiny step that makes a real difference.
5. Strain
Lift out the tea bag, or pour the brew through a small strainer to catch loose flowers. If you used an infuser, simply remove it. Give the flowers a gentle press if you like a touch more intensity — chamomile will not go bitter from it.
6. Flavor it, if you like
Chamomile is lovely plain, but it takes to additions beautifully:
- A teaspoon of honey plays up its natural sweetness.
- A squeeze of lemon brightens the cup and lifts the floral notes.
- A slice of fresh ginger added during steeping gives a warm, spicy edge.
Add sweeteners after straining so you can judge the amount against the finished brew.
7. Serve hot or over ice
Serve chamomile hot as a relaxed evening cup, or cool it and pour over ice for a caffeine-free iced tisane in warm weather. To make an iced version without watering it down, brew it a little stronger (see below) and pour it straight over a full glass of ice.
Chamomile Tea Amounts and Steep Times
Use this quick reference to match your chamomile form to the right amount and steep. All amounts are per standard cup of about 240 ml (8 oz).
| Chamomile form | Amount per cup | Water temp | Steep time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tea bag | 1 bag | Just-boiled (~100 C / 212 F) | 5 min (up to 10 for a stronger cup) |
| Loose dried flowers | ~1 tablespoon | Just-boiled (~100 C / 212 F) | 5 min (5–10 for stronger) |
| Fresh flowers | ~2 tablespoons | Just-boiled (~100 C / 212 F) | 5–10 min |
These are starting points, not rules. Chamomile is forgiving, so adjust the amount and time freely until the cup tastes right to you.
Fresh vs Dried Chamomile
Most people brew with dried flowers or bags, and for good reason — drying concentrates the flavor and the fragrant oils, so a little goes a long way and the result is reliably aromatic year-round. Dried chamomile also stores well in an airtight jar away from light and heat.
Fresh chamomile, straight from the garden, makes a lighter, greener, more delicate cup. Because fresh blooms are mostly water, you need roughly double the volume of dried, and the flavor is subtler. If you grow it, harvest the small daisy-like flower heads when the white petals are fully open, rinse them, and use them the same day for the brightest taste. Both fresh and dried are made from the flower itself — the classic tisane comes from German chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla).
How to Make a Stronger Cup of Chamomile Tea
If your chamomile tastes thin, you have three easy levers, and none of them risk bitterness:
- Use more flowers — add a second tea bag or an extra half-tablespoon of loose flowers per cup.
- Steep longer — push the steep to 8–10 minutes. With no tannins to release, the extra time only builds flavor.
- Keep it covered — trapping the aromatic oils, as noted above, makes the cup taste noticeably fuller.
Because chamomile can take a long steep, the safest way to strengthen it is simply time plus a bit more flower, rather than trying to squeeze more out of a short brew. For the underlying principles that apply to any flower or herb infusion, our guide on how to brew herbal tea goes deeper into ratios and temperatures.
Can You Re-Steep Chamomile?
Yes, you can re-steep chamomile flowers, though the second cup will be gentler. Most of the flavor and aroma release in the first brew, so a second steep produces a lighter, more delicate infusion — pleasant, but noticeably softer. To make the most of a re-steep, keep the used flowers or bag covered and warm, and give the second round a longer steep of 7–10 minutes to coax out what remains. Whole dried flowers and fresh blooms tend to re-steep better than finely broken bag chamomile, which gives up most of its character on the first pass.
A Light Note on Chamomile and Relaxation
Chamomile has a long-standing reputation as a calming, unwinding cup, and many people find a warm mug of it relaxing in the evening. That is one of the reasons it is such a popular caffeine-free choice at the end of the day. Responses vary from person to person, though, and this is not medical advice — if you have any health questions, ask your own healthcare provider.
We keep this how-to focused on brewing and deliberately leave the deeper discussion to its own pages: for what chamomile is often associated with, see our overview of chamomile tea benefits, and for the bedtime angle specifically, see chamomile tea and sleep.
The Takeaway
Chamomile tea is one of the most beginner-friendly brews there is. Boil your water fully, add a bag or a spoonful of dried or fresh flowers, cover the cup, steep about five minutes — longer if you want it stronger — and strain. There is no caffeine to manage and no tannins to turn it bitter, so you can experiment with amounts, steep times, and add-ins like honey, lemon, or ginger until you land on your ideal cup. Once you have the basic method down, the rest is simply personal taste.