Over the holidays I made an herbal tea to give as gifts that I called “Winter Wellness Tea.” I wanted it to taste good with holiday flavors, but also to be effective. I made two different versions because when I made a second batch we ran out of elderflower, so I used astragalus instead. The orange peel, astragalus, and elderberry were coarsely ground in a coffee grinder, the cinnamon was broken into small pieces, and the other herbs were cut and sifted. I wanted it to be esthetically appealing without a lot of sediment, with some balance between warm/cool and moist/dry. The instructions were for an infusion. It did taste good, but what I’m wondering if it makes sense as herbal medicine. The parts were by weight. The recipe I made was this: 2 parts Elderberry 2 parts Hibiscus 2 parts Ginger 2 parts Orange peel 1 part Elderflower or 2 parts Astragalus 1 part Peppermint 1 part Yarrow 1 part Cinnamon 1/2 part Cloves

This is a lovely tea, although it is as much for digestion as the immune system. The only problem is the Astragalus which is not effective as an infusion, it needs long decocting.

Yes, digestion! Another reason it’s good as a holiday tea. I will stick with the elderflower next time.