"Martin Brown" wrote in message
David in Normandy wrote:
What a wonderful plant this is. Someone gave us a cutting last year and
it has already made a nice little shrub. Recently we've started
harvesting it for lemon balm tea. Quite nice. Today for the first time we
tried chilled lemon balm tea and it was a really pleasant lemon tasting
drink with the evening meal. Better chilled than hot. Well worth growing.

For two cups/glasses I use around 6 sprigs, each with around 6 leaves on,
and chopped coarsely. Place in a tea pot, add boiling water and leave to
stand for a least ten minutes. Today's was left to stand for at least
half an hour before straining into two glasses and popping into the
fridge to chill. Well worth trying if you have some lemon balm in the
garden.

Don't let it set seed or you will regret it.
ISTR there is a variagated form that is less vigorous.

I'll try the chilled drink David, it'll make a change from Robinsons My
wife used it in a Thai dish that needed lemon grass and it worked out ok.
I agree Martin, it can be a bit invasive. It's appeared in all 4 gardens in
my terrace. Nobody is quite sure where it started. Plants like hardy
geraniums and aquilegia, seem to spread in a Northerly direction.
..