While traveling in Bhutan almost 20 years ago now, I purchased some tea from the local hospital (without knowing anything about it). This tea was magic for me -- it was the only thing that helped with terrible sinus congestion that I used to have and anytime I had a cold coming on, this tea would knock it right out before it even fully developed. It was likely the beginning of my foray into plant medicine, although I didn't know it at the time. The tea ingredients were Saussurea lappa (Costus root), Amla, and Piper mullesua (Hill pepper) (I looked these up...the common names are not on the tea bag!) I am wondering if you might know where I could source the S. lappa and P. mullesua or if you might know of any subs that might be more widely available. All I could find online about this combo was that it was anti-inflammatory, which may have been all I really needed haha, but would also love to hear any thoughts that you might have on the uses of these herbs and/or tea combination. Thanks!

Saussurrea lappa also known as Mu Xiang in TCM is an endangered species and is no longer available, while I might assume that Piper mullesua might have some similarity to Pipalli long pepper or to Back Pepper, that is a guess since I do not know that species of Piper.