Herbal Cupboard
Winter Forest Tea Blend
Linden, rose hip, lemon balm and orange peel — a jar of summer's flowers for the darkest evenings.
This is the blend that goes in the big jar on the kitchen shelf every winter, made from flowers dried in June and hips gathered in October. It is soft, faintly floral, a little tart, and gently sweet even without honey.
It is the blend I am developing for the future apothecary — still adjusting the proportions, batch by batch.
Winter Forest Tea Blend
You will need
Method
Measure by volume — a 'part' can be a tablespoon or a cup, depending on how much you want.
Mix everything in a bowl with your hands, breaking up any large pieces of leaf.
Store in a clean, airtight jar away from light. Label with the date.
To brew, use a heaped teaspoon per cup. Pour over water just off the boil, cover, and steep for 8–10 minutes. Strain through a fine tea strainer to catch any rose hip hairs.
Notes
Keeping: best within six months, while the colour and scent are strong.
Cut and sifted rose hips are sold with the hairs already removed. If you dry your own, deseed them carefully.
As a gift: it looks beautiful in a glass jar with a handwritten label.
Plants in this recipe