Lately I have been playing around with one of my favorite herbs, Lemon Verbena.

While not the most common herbal tea, the flavor, a combination of lemongrass, licorice, and spearmint, is both unique and versatile, making it perfect to concoct tea recipes with.

And what better way to start tinkering, I thought, than to bring back an old classic: the Tea-Pop.

Light and refreshing, this Tea-Pop is great to pass the time on a lazy, hazy August afternoon.

Bon Appe-TEA!

Lemon Verbena Tea-Pops

2 TBSP lemon verbena, loose
1¼ cups sugar
2¼ cups fresh lemon juice

Add sugar and 1¼ cups water to a small sacuepan and slowly, over medium heat, bring to a boil. Once boiling, add lemon verbena and reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until sugar is dissolved, about 5 minutes. Let cool slightly, then strain the lemon verbena.

Blend lemon verbena syrup, lemon juice, and 3 ⅓ cups water in a blender 1 minute. Pour lemon/lemon verbena mixture into ice-pop molds. Cover and insert sticks. Freeze until solid, at least 4 hours. Dip molds briefly in hot water to release pops.