Here is how to make lovage tea in one breath: lovage tea is a savoury, celery-and-anise-scented, caffeine-free infusion made by steeping the fresh or dried leaves — or a few crushed seeds — of lovage (Levisticum officinale), a tall old-fashioned European kitchen-garden herb that tastes strikingly of celery, in just-off-boil water for several minutes until the water turns pale gold and smells of warm celery and hay.
That is the whole method. Below is the longer version of the lovage tea recipe: what the drink actually tastes like, how the leaf and the seed differ, exact amounts, ordered steps, ways to lift a savoury cup, and how to store your lovage so it keeps its punch.
What lovage tea is
Lovage tea is a herbal infusion with an unusually bold, savoury character. Steep the leaves and the cup reads green and vegetal, with a flavour so close to celery that many people mistake the two on scent alone, plus a warm, faintly aniseed or yeasty edge underneath. Steep the seeds instead and the profile turns warmer and more aromatic, closer to a gentle spice tea. Either way the liquor settles to a pale gold and carries a smell of warm celery and cut hay — comforting, herby and a little old-fashioned.
That old-fashioned quality is no accident. Lovage (Levisticum officinale) is a classic potager herb — a tall, handsome perennial that once stood at the back of nearly every European kitchen garden, prized for seasoning broths, stocks and stews long before celery was widely grown. Cooks across Europe have treated its leaves, stems and seeds as an all-purpose savoury seasoning for centuries, and brewing it as a tea is simply an extension of that kitchen-garden tradition, letting the celery-like aroma stand on its own in a cup.
Because lovage is a garden herb rather than true tea from the Camellia sinensis plant, a cup of it is naturally caffeine-free. If you want the wider background on what counts as a tisane and how leaf-and-seed infusions differ from black or green tea, our primer on what is herbal tea covers it.
Lovage leaf tea or lovage seed tea
Lovage gives you two quite different cups from the same plant, so it is worth deciding which you are after before you reach for the kettle.
- Lovage leaf tea is the green, savoury option. Fresh or dried leaves make a light, celery-forward infusion that tastes fresh and herbaceous — the everyday choice, and the easiest if you grow the plant.
- Lovage seed tea is warmer and more aromatic. A few crushed seeds give a rounder, spicier cup with more of that anise-adjacent warmth, closer in spirit to a seed infusion like caraway or fennel.
Whichever you use, start with aromatic garden lovage that you have identified correctly and washed well. Lovage belongs to the carrot and parsley family (Apiaceae), which also contains plants you would not want to brew, so only pick from a plant you are sure of — ideally one you have grown yourself or bought as a named culinary herb. Give fresh leaves a good rinse to shift any grit or garden dust before they go in the pot.
What you'll need
- Lovage: a small handful of fresh lovage leaves, or about 1 teaspoon of dried lovage leaf, per cup (roughly 240 ml / 8 oz of water). For a seed cup, use about 1/2 teaspoon of lightly crushed lovage seeds instead.
- Fresh water, heated to about 95 C (203 F) — just off a full boil.
- Optional honey to take the edge off the savoury notes. (Never give honey to infants under 12 months.)
- Optional lemon and a little mint: a squeeze of lemon lifts the cup nicely, and a few mint leaves add freshness.
How to make lovage tea, step by step
- Prepare the lovage. Tear or lightly bruise a small handful of fresh leaves to release their oils, or measure out about 1 teaspoon of dried leaf. For a seed cup, lightly crush about 1/2 teaspoon of seeds until they smell fragrant.
- Heat the water. Bring fresh water to a boil, then let it settle for 20-30 seconds so it sits around 95 C, just off the boil.
- Combine and pour. Put the lovage in a cup or small pot and pour the hot water over it.
- Cover and steep. Cover the cup or pot and steep for 5-8 minutes. Covering matters here — it traps the aromatic oils that carry lovage's celery scent, which would otherwise drift off with the steam.
- Strain. Pour through a fine mesh strainer or a tea infuser to catch the leaves or seeds.
- Sweeten, lift and serve. Taste, add a little honey if you like, and — because this is a savoury cup — try a squeeze of lemon to brighten it. Sip it warm.
The table below sums up the main choices. For the general mechanics of steeping leaves and seeds — water temperature, timing and straining — our guide on how to brew herbal tea goes deeper.
| Lovage part | Amount per cup | Steep time |
|---|---|---|
| Fresh leaves | A small handful, torn | 5-8 minutes, covered |
| Dried leaf | About 1 tsp | 5-8 minutes, covered |
| Crushed seeds | About 1/2 tsp | 5-8 minutes, covered |
Lifting and pairing a savoury cup
Lovage sits among the savoury culinary-herb teas rather than the sweet, fruity ones, which changes how you finish it. Because the base note is so celery-like, sweetening alone can taste a little odd; acidity works far better. A squeeze of lemon, a thin ribbon of lemon peel, or a few mint leaves all lift the green heaviness and make the cup taste brighter. A tiny pinch of salt is even a traditional trick for celery-forward broths, though most people leave the tea unsalted.
Lovage also blends happily with its seed-tea cousins, which share its anise-and-warm-spice thread. A cup of lovage leaf with a few crushed fennel seeds tastes rounder and a shade sweeter — see how to make fennel tea for the fennel side on its own. Swap in caraway and you get a bready, rye-like warmth against the celery green; our guide to how to make caraway tea walks through crushing and steeping those seeds. Start any blend at about half a teaspoon of each so neither flavour buries the other.
Storing lovage
Dried lovage leaf and whole seeds keep their aroma far longer than fresh, which makes them handy to have on the shelf. Store dried leaf and seeds in airtight jars away from heat, light and moisture — a cupboard, not the windowsill above the stove — and they will hold good flavour for up to a year; you will know they are fading when a fresh pinch no longer smells sharply of celery. Fresh leaves are best used within a few days: keep them in the refrigerator, loosely wrapped in a damp cloth or standing stems-down in a little water like a bunch of herbs. If you grow lovage, you can also dry a summer harvest to brew through the colder months.
A light note on safety
Lovage is an everyday culinary herb, and this lovage tea recipe uses it in ordinary food-sized amounts — a small handful of leaves or half a teaspoon of seeds — not as the concentrated essential oil, which is a separate and far stronger product this recipe does not use. Enjoyed that way, and kept to an occasional cup rather than something you drink by the potful all day, it is simply a pleasant, caffeine-free savoury infusion.
A few sensible cautions are worth knowing. Lovage is traditionally avoided during pregnancy, and by anyone with kidney concerns, so if either applies to you it is best skipped, and everyone else is wise to keep amounts modest. Responses to any herbal drink vary from person to person, and this is not medical advice: if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, or you take any medication, check with your own healthcare provider before making lovage tea a regular habit. Treated as the gentle, celery-scented cup it is, lovage tea is one of the more distinctive herbal infusions you can brew from the garden.