How to Make Simple + Beautiful Honeysuckle Tea

When honeysuckle starts blooming along our fence line, I always make a batch of this simple tea. It almost feels like a secret recipe: just flowers, water, and sweetener. Light, floral, and naturally sweet, honeysuckle tea is easy to make. I love it best as iced tea but you can have it hot too

If you’re new to making herbal teas, this is a great place to start. The flavor depends entirely on the flowers you gather: look for blooms that snap off easily and smell sweet. You’ll want to avoid any flowers that are wilted or browning, as they can make the tea bitter. I follow a simple 1:1 ratio of honeysuckle to water, but you can adjust that depending on how strong you like it. Once you’ve strained and sweetened the tea, it keeps beautifully in the fridge all week.

What You’ll Need

So few ingredients you’re guaranteed to have everything you need.

Honeysuckle Tea Base

• Honeysuckle flowers
• Fresh spring water

Optional Sweeteners

• Raw honey
• Sugar, stevia, or other sweeteners (optional)

Optional Add-Ins for Serving

• Fresh mint sprigs or honeysuckle flowers (for garnish)

If you’d like to double or triple this recipe you can make adjustments in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

How to Make Honeysuckle Tea

If you’re boiled water before, you can do this!

Step 1: Forage for Honeysuckle Flowers

Head outside with a basket and look for golden honeysuckle blossoms that come off the vine with a gentle pull. They should be fragrant and full of nectar—those are the ones that make the best tea. Avoid any that are brown, dry, or wilted. You don’t need to rinse them unless they look dirty or dusty; just give them a gentle shake to remove any bugs.

You’ll want about 1 cup of loosely packed blossoms per cup of water. I used 8 cups of flowers for 8 cups of water in the photos here.

Step 2: Heat the Water

Bring your water just to the edge of a boil. You’re looking for small bubbles rising to the surface and a little steam. Too much heat can destroy the delicate flavor of the flowers and cause bitterness.

If your water boils by accident, just let it sit for a minute before pouring it over the flowers. It’s better slightly too cool than too hot.

Step 3: Steep the Flowers

Place the flowers in a large heatproof bowl or pitcher and pour the hot water over them. Give them a gentle stir with a wooden spoon to make sure everything is submerged. Then loosely cover the bowl to keep the steam in while it steeps.

You have two options here:

• For a cold tea: Let the mixture steep until it reaches room temperature, then transfer it to the fridge to steep overnight.
• For a warm tea: Let it steep for 5–7 minutes, strain, and serve right away.

Longer steeping gives a stronger floral flavor but can also draw out bitterness if the flowers weren’t perfect. If it tastes off, try a shorter steep next time, or add a pinch of baking soda (more on that below).

Step 4: Strain the Tea

Once it’s done steeping, pour the tea through a fine mesh strainer lined with cheesecloth or a coffee filter. This removes all the petals and any tiny bits. Don’t skip the cloth! Honeysuckle petals are small and can slip through most strainers.

If you’re making a large batch, work in batches to avoid overflowing the filter.

Step 5: Sweeten to Taste

While the tea is still slightly warm, add honey or your sweetener of choice. Start with a small amount, stir, and taste. Honeysuckle is naturally sweet, so you may not need much.

If your tea tastes bitter even after sweetening, try a tiny pinch of baking soda seriously, just a tiny pinch. It neutralizes bitterness without affecting the flavor. Too much will make the tea salty, so be careful!

Step 6: Chill and Serve (or Serve Hot!)

Transfer the strained and sweetened tea to a pitcher and refrigerate. It’s best served cold over ice, but you can also enjoy it warm or at room temperature.

Garnish with a fresh sprig of mint, a few extra honeysuckle blossoms, or even a lemon slice if you like a little citrus.

Store any leftovers in a covered pitcher in the fridge for up to a week.

More Fun Summertime Homestead Recipes

This tea feels like making something out of nothing, and summer in the country is filled with projects like this. Here are some more favorites:

• All you need is cream and salt for homemade butter and homemade buttermilk.
• Save leftover tomato skins for basically free tomato powder.
• And for a more traditional iced tea, you’ll love this raspberry-peach version.

Printable Recipe