Valentines Wildcrafted Herbal Teabags (No Sew)

I hope I am in time with this project to enter into the "wild things" round up  at hunger and thirst. The January  assignment is all about wild plants used for tea  brews. I've combined the project with a Valentines gift for the man in my life. I'm not sure if he'll like all the blends, but he does like chamomile tea.

Italians drink much less black tea than English people do.  Instead they drink more coffee (espresso), but also more herbal teas/tisanes, especially chamomile which is given to very small babies, kids and anyone who likes it before bedtime.

All supermarkets and even corner shops stock herbal teas. It's very common to buy ready blended mixes such as relaxing (chamomile and  lemon balm often with linden, hawthorn or passion flower), after meal (fennel, liquorice or lemon balm)  and  purifying/draining ( lemon balm, mint, nettle, elderflower, horsetail)

 I love chamomile tea with a little honey and  it combines really well with lemon balm . I also like soothing mallow tea  and have been meaning to try it  with mint for a while. I think it would make a good iced-tea. Yarrow *, elderflower and a little dried  lemon rind , would be good to help fight a cold/flu or keep them at bay.  I also like rosehip tea and the addition  of a small amount of cinnamon and rose petals would make it special, warming and spicy!

The project was  easy if a bit fiddly, but I so enjoyed myself. I used thin cotton gauze and kitchen string.
I found some great tags for Valentines Tea for Two at heatherbullard.typepad.com designed for Valentines Day. One side has"Steeped in Love" and the other "Tea for Two". Just what I was looking for.
They are free to download.

I made four blends of tea;

You can see photos  of the plants here;
Chamomile  matricaria chamomilla
Lemon Balm melissa officinalis
Mallow malva sylvestris
Mint mentha acquatica
Yarrow* achillea millelium
Elderflower sambucus nigra
Rosehips  rosa canina

(*Some people can be sentitive to yarrow. It should not be taken very often or given to pregnant ladies)

All the  "tea" ingredients were gathered in the summer near my home, apart from the rose petals, cinnamon, lemon rind. You could use different  blends or green tea or black tea.

Put 1 teaspoon of chosen plant or tea onto  a square of gauze

Wrap  it up

Fold the ends into points

Fold into a  teabag. Tie a knot in string, place inside and staple together

Add the  teabag tag

Make a simple paper sleeve and write the ingredients

Use different colours for different blends

I used an old teabag box

Tea for Two - Steeped in Love - Happy San Valentino!

 

 

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