Colonial Tea Blends

[dyemaker]

From the Virginia Gazette (January 1774), one month after the Boston Tea Party.

sweet marjoram and a little mint
mother of thyme and a little hyssop
rosemary and lavender
clover with a little chamomile
sage and lemon balm leaves with a little lemon juice.

Another not mentioned here is Oswego tea. It was made by the Oswego Natives and adopted by Colonists. It is made with Beebalm, also called Bergamot.

Red Clover makes very good tea. I could be blended with Spearmint or Peppermint but is good alone. Might make good "sun tea". It could be sweetened with honey.

I have tried the Lemon Balm tea too. Milk should not be added to herbal tea.

 

[MSW]

thanks for the post- somehow i was always under the impression that the tea drunk by the colonists was the aweful brackish black stuff foisted off upoon me by mummy, who wanted to "build my character."

(or hide the fact that she really wasn't a very good cook)

 

[Birdman]

dyemaker, how do you go about making your teas?, Dried or fresh, how much(herb) for say two cups worth of tea? Do you simmer or just steep the herbs in hot water? questions questions questions

 

[dyemaker]

A while back a lady I knew made the tea. I was the one gathering the wild herbs as well as medicinal herbs. She had the guide book. I was the one doing all the work. She simmered it in a pot for a long time but I think it would be better just steeped in hot water. As a rough guess I'd say use twice as much herbal tea as you would black tea. I've made blends of different teas but don't have any recipes. It was hit or miss and some creations were real tasty.

Oh, I dried the clover in a wire basket in the sun. The others hung upside down in the house then put into paper bags then jars. Some I put directly into paper bags then jars. The purpose being to (slowly) dry them before the lid was tightened on the jars for storage. They should last a year but this lady has a huge box of different things I gathered over the years and I consider it expired. Labor of love (on my part). Too bad my time was wasted.

I studied the medicinal herbs and used several books to sort out wive's tale and folk lore from fact. I was mostly concerned with cold and flu or fever and sleeping aid but there were many other uses. Yarrow, Boneset, Catnip, wild Hops, and Camomille come to mind as a few medicinal things. Never actually drank tea made from that but I did gather some and made a blend for sleep. Consult a field guide or look it up on the internet. Blending is tricky for medicinal herbs. They may offset each other.

Clover, Sage, and Thyme listed above in the first post all have health benefits.

Use Jewelweed for poison ivy. It works when it is fresh. Thought I'd add that because it is poison ivy season. Has nothing to do with tea.

Sassafras roots make excellent tea but drink it in only in moderation. The roots should be dug before leaves appear in spring. I have some dried.

:yakyak:

 

[JohnnyO]

Thanks for that info :hatsoff:

 

[Birdman]

Thanks for the info D, YMHS Birdman

 

[dyemaker]

I made some iced Sassafras tea just now. I mixed it with real tea only because I wanted a boost. Here's more info on Sassafras. It mentions that root beer used to be made with Sassafras in it. Sassafras

There may be many places online to find root beer recipes. A quick scan brought up this. Root beer was once considered medicinal.
Root Beer

 

[dyemaker]

As with most herbs it is best to pick them in the morning after the dew has evaporated. I went to the lady's house a few days ago and saw that the Bergamot (Beebalm) is in bloom. I used the flowers as well when I dried it before. She also has Thyme and Rosemary growing where I had planted it years ago. I have not been out in my woods in a while but there is a patch of wild Beebalm that comes up every year. I've seen it in the wild near railroad tracks too.

Bergamot should not be confused with the Chinese citrus that is used as in oil in Earl Grey tea. I wonder if the name was given to the herb because of the taste of it. It doe's remind me of Earl Grey tea and I have mixed it with Earl Grey tea before. I will pick some and dry it next time I am there. I had experimented with blending other citrus flavored teas with Earl Grey tea. Again it was hit or miss and I don't recall the blends. She had Spearmint too. I have used rose hips for tea before. They should be picked when they turn red late in the year even after frost. It's a good source of vitamin c if my memory serves me.

While I was looking along the roadside I saw some Elderberry in bloom. This is a medicine for fever. The blooms must be dried just right . Yellow or stained dried flowers should be sorted out. Only white dried flowers should be used for medicine. Also saw yarrow growing while cutting the grass along the road. This is a medicine for fever too. I have found Chamomille(a natural sleep aid) along the road too. I go could on and on about medicinal herbs and plants but I think I'd better stop. It is off the topic. I am a little rusty too because I have not been doing this for a while now. Like my other hobbies, I continue til I figure I've mastered it and move on to another. Muzzleloading being the exception of course. It is never boring and there is so much I have yet to learn!

:yakyak: