Any chance of putting up something of a basic 'how-to' for the interested but uninformed, please?
Tea?
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Wild tea how-to.
At the most basic it is dead simple. Gather plants (known non-toxic!), either whole and hand by bundles or as leaves and leave on e.g. newspapers on screens in a dry, shady and well ventilated place. In the latter case turning gently every few days will help. When dry (crumbly) store on a opague fairly airtight container.
As a more advance step one can ferment the leaves slightly, buy rolling them in your hands and storing in "piles" in the same place as you ae going to dry them for a week or three, and then spreading them out to dry throughtly.
At the most basic it is dead simple. Gather plants (known non-toxic!), either whole and hand by bundles or as leaves and leave on e.g. newspapers on screens in a dry, shady and well ventilated place. In the latter case turning gently every few days will help. When dry (crumbly) store on a opague fairly airtight container.
As a more advance step one can ferment the leaves slightly, buy rolling them in your hands and storing in "piles" in the same place as you ae going to dry them for a week or three, and then spreading them out to dry throughtly.
Had a panic, Tesco were out of stock of
http://www.welshbrewtea.co.uk/
Back in stock so just got 20 boxes, panic over.
http://www.welshbrewtea.co.uk/
Back in stock so just got 20 boxes, panic over.
I thought I would resurrect this thread, probably as I have been reading the "Earths Children" series in which they seem to be constantly brewing up a huge array of different herbs for tea. I have a question: If you found yourself without a tea bag while out and about at this time of year (the depths of Winter, but with the first tentative signs of Spring), what might you be looking for to make a brew out of?
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"The drink which has come to supply the place of beer has, in general, been tea. It is notorious that tea has no useful strength in it; that it contains nothing nutritious; that it, besides being good for nothing, has badness in it, because it is well known to produce want of sleep in many cases, and in all cases, to shake and weaken the nerves. It is, in fact, a weaker kind of laudanum, which enlivens for the moment and deadens afterwards. At any rate it communicates no strength to the body; it does not, in any degree, assist in affording what labour demands. It is, then, of no use."
William Cobbett, Cottage Economy
Not unwilling to bear the brunt of Mr. Cobbett's ill will, I do enjoy a hot cup of Lapsang souchong, but only second to the enjoyment of hot, black, and very strong coffee. I don't however have the energy or commitment to forage afield for wild teas, I do however applaud those who do.
William Cobbett, Cottage Economy
Not unwilling to bear the brunt of Mr. Cobbett's ill will, I do enjoy a hot cup of Lapsang souchong, but only second to the enjoyment of hot, black, and very strong coffee. I don't however have the energy or commitment to forage afield for wild teas, I do however applaud those who do.
Haggis, nice to hear an American who when tea is mentioned doesn't go on about Earl Grey...a truly foul drink.
"Star Trek; The Next Generation", via Jean-Luc Picard, created an entire race of Earl Grey drinkers here in the Colonies. I'll drink Earl Grey before I'll drink plain water, but coffee and Lapsang souchong are my preferred hot drinks. Of course, last June in Edinburgh I became a regular at the whisky bars; every morning, 10AM, one drink only, something single-malt I can't get here. But, back to the teas; on another forum, (www.Wintertrekking.com), there is a thread going about pine needle teas, spruce teas, and such like. Maybe tomorrow, when I'm out snowshoeing and stop for my boil-up, I'll make a pot of Black Spruce tea and see what all the fuss is about. These wild tea drinkers may be fledging a convert?
Elderflower is my favourite forage tea with a sprig of mint from home, I find it very refreshing on a summers day. I just have to remember to shake the critters out first before making.
Shake thecritters out, but what about all that free protien
Ask me how I know
I shake them out of the flowers and use a strainer now, the critters are too crunchy on the outside for me.
How do you Know?
right if its not from the tea plant its not tea, all of the above boiled flowers are infusions end of :-D
ps yorkshire tea for me anything else is just playing at a cuppa.
ps yorkshire tea for me anything else is just playing at a cuppa.
I rate pine needle tea even lower than Earl Grey. If you want something nicer but still with a pine taste take some of this with you
I'm experimenting with dried tangerine peel tea - sorry, tisane. These drinks have subtle tastes and aromas which are easily masked by the stronger flavours of the things that you have previously eaten/drunk/smoked. So avoid eating a biscuit first and you will appreciate the flavour of the drink more. In the case of cigarettes, I would guess you would need to wait about three years before trying to taste anything!
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