What are you doing with them?

Tea??

Eek!  You haven't denuded the Alma sisters, have you????

Tea, indeed. Lots and lots of tea. The dried leaves give off an incredible aroma.

"Eek! You haven't denuded the Alma sisters, have you????"


Oh, Gina, that would be so horribly wrong on so many levels. 
Celeste on the other hand....

Can you please describe your process for drying them?  I am assuming you are putting them in the oven.

Frank,
Doctors always say consume what you like but in moderation , I see doctors do not do what they Preach.
Mark

He never said he was going to use it all at once.  I did that to my panache because I airlayered the top but a lot of the roots broke off so i had to remove most of the leaves.

I wanted to harvest a large number of leaves before rust starts up. This batch is for the whole family and it will last for months...I think.

I just collected some and they are drying. I can say it is is the first time I have ever picked fig leaves. It felt strange but I got over it. Got to have tea!

I'm intrigued and may have to give this a try.  I certainly have enough leaves to spare.  Frank, have you noticed any difference in tea quality from various varieties?  Or even glossy leaves vs. fuzzy leaves?

Gina and Harvey ,
I was as skeptical as you on fig tea before I tried it. It has become my family's drink of choice with dinner. We brew up a large batch at a time , refrigerate it and consume it as iced tea. If you really want to kick it up a notch brew it up with some lemon grass for that extra lemony zing.

I've only tried Alma (sorry Gina) and Celeste so far and don't see much difference. The leaves have all been youngish but I imagine there would be subtle differences to the palate with other varieties and age of leaves.

Try it, you'll like it.

And it is very good for controlling sugar levels in diabetics.i have been making for a few years,my wife is diabetic,but she will not drink it,she think's I'am nut's.I drink it,it's supposed to be good for many other things, and it's free tea.

Any idea what the shelf life of dried fig leaves are? I imagine they would last for years, but there must be an optimal window for use as tea.

Like all leaves, it depends how you store them.  Loss of quality is typically followed by color changes in short order.

I notice some fig trees have that coconut smell ( to me), some have little fragrance, so I'm sure that would be reflected in the taste of the tea.

Frank,
Thanks for continuing to post about the fig tea. I will wash and sunbathe some leaves. Your description of the fig tea is too good to not try. And given what I know of your other fig delicacies, you have very good taste. Thus my family and I will really love this also. The fig-walnut leather was our last 'must make' recipe.

I will let your know...