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Old 01-23-2011, 12:36 AM   #1 (permalink)
The Hollyberry Lady
 
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Thumbs up Making Tea From Plants ???

I have always loved to grow lemon balm and make delicious tea from the dried leaves. I'm still drinking some from the leaves I dried in summer.


I want to make tea soon from the Wintergreen leaves of my (Gaultheria Procumbens) "Hillberry", "Winterberry", or "Teaberry" dwarf evergreen shrublet...








When the leaves are dried they have a strong scent and flavor of wintergreen, and the berries do too. I might try it. Here's how...


Quote:
Wintergreen was once famous as a native tea hence the regional name Teaberry, but it has fallen out of use because people have forgotten how to prepare it. The leaves can be harvested at any time of year, but have to be fermented if they are to have any taste beyond just a pleasant odor. To prepare the leaves, pack a jar with them, fill with sterile water, & set the sealed jar in a warm spot for several days, until the water becomes bubbly with fermentation...

The first soaking of water makes a strong tea when heated & diluted to taste; or the flavored water can be used in cooking or to add a distinctive flavor to lemonaid or pecoe tea. The fermented leaves themselves are strained & placed in a dehydrator or permited to dry out naturally if it is a low-humidity season. The dried leaves can later be prepared in boiling water like any other tea, making a milder brew than the water from the original fermenting.

Looking forward...


: )
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