Isn't tea lovely?

We all have people in our lives that we can, with all sincerity, call lovely.  They embody the qualities of compassion partnered with the generous concern that you are having a good day and that they are somehow contributing towards such a goal.  Lovely is a tea blend to celebrate the loveliness in our lives and preferably with the ones we’ve dubbed “lovely” to share a cup with us.

Read more about Lovely's antioxidant powers...

Lovely is our first red tea blend with a base of beautiful and naturally caffeine-free Rooibos.  Super high in antioxidants, Rooibos is a fantastic herb to enjoy daily.  Along with Goji Berries, Lovely is a gentle but effective adaptogenic blend that helps the body deal with stress while nourishing the kidneys and liver.

Lovely includes the following herbs:

ROOIBOS Aspalathus linearis: High in antioxidants (higher even than green tea!) with anti-inflammatory, antiviral, rejuvenative, and  adaptogenic properties, Rooibos is wonderful.  Rooibos is also useful in treating allergies, indigestion, insomnia, general nervousness, and skin complaints.  Rooibos definitely keeps it lovely.

GOJI BERRIES Lycium barbarum: Also known as Wolfberry, Goji Berries have a long history of use in Traditional Chinese Medicine.  Nourishing to the kidneys and liver, Goji berries stregthen the blood.  They are full of vitamins and minerals including vitamin C, iron, zinc, and selenium.

ANISE SEED Pimpinella anisum: A great herb for indigestion and bloating, Anise seed is also useful for treating coughs and colds.

COCONUT FLAKES Cocos nucifera: A sweet addition to our blend to round out the flavors, Coconuts are full of vital, delicious energy.

Purchase Lovely and our many other teas at our S H O P.

Sweeten Up: How to Make Simple Syrups

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Honey is wonderful medicine.  Antibacterial and antiseptic, honey has been used for thousands of years as good medicine.  In addition to its own powerful healing properites, honey is an excellent medium for delivering other healing herbs into our bodies.  Besides taking honey daily in teas or straight for the spoon,  we can create simple syrups out of honey and medicinal vinegars.

To make a simple syrup, you will need only a few items.   A bowl to mix in, a spoon to mix with, measuring implements (if you like, but not always necessary) will be helpful.  Make sure to choose raw and unfiltered honey for your simple syrup.  Raw and unfiltered honey contains the vital enzymes, propolis, pollen, and essential vitamins and minerals.  You will also need some raw apple cider vinegar that may or may not have been prepared as a medicinal vinegar.

Raw apple cider vinegar on its own, as has been discussed before, is great for your health.  It is not always the most palatable for some folks taste buds, especially the young and the picky.  Combining medicinal vinegars with honey is a great solution.

The ratio of honey to vinegar in our simple syrups is largely dependent on how sweet you want your syrup.  Generally, one part honey to two parts vinegar produces a not overly sweet, but still satisfying syrup.  Reverse the ratio if you want a sweeter, thicker syrup.

Mix the honey and vinegar together.  At this point you might want to sing a song thanking the bees and apples for the hard work they put into creating such beautiful food medicine.

Now you'll have a lovely syrup!  What is great about simple syrups of honey and vinegar is that they have a long shelf-life and don't need to be refrigerated (though, like most herbal medicines, should be kept in cool place).

What sort of syrup shall you make?  Try  making your very own Four Thieves Vinegar simple syrup!  You can also try making simple syrups with our Amazon Brew and TOUGH AS NAILS Iron Brew.  Experiment and enjoy!

A New Tea for Two!

We are proud to present the latest in our pregnancy and postpartum tea series: Sweet Nectar Milk Blend. A tea to support breastfeeding, Sweet Nectar Milk Blend combines of galactagogue, nutritious, and nervine herbs.  Sweet Nectar Milk Blend encourages the production of milk by stimulating milk flow, providing the body with nutrients, and calming and relaxing mama by supporting the nervous system.

For breast feeding success, we always encourage new families to seek advice and guidance for proper breastfeeding techniques from a midwife or lactation consultant.  Learning how to breastfeed correctly will be the first and biggest benefit to successfully breastfeeding.

Sweet Nectar Milk Blend includes:

FENNEL Foeniculum vulgare: A yummy galactagogue that has long been used in postpartum blends to encourage milk flow.

FENUGREEK Trigonella foenumgraecum: Another classic galactagogue, Fenugreek is also anti-inflammatory which can be very helpful to reduce any swelling or pain.

RASPBERRY LEAF Rubus idaeus: Full of vitamins and minerals to relax, strengthen and restore the body such as vitamin E, calcium, magnesium, manganese, potassium, it also increases colostrum in the milk when used during pregnancy.

NETTLES Urtica dioica: Nettles are full of iron, vitamin E, vitamin C, vitamin K, vitamin B, calcium, just to name a few of this green beauty’s constituents.  Very nutritious, indeed!

LEMON BALM Melissa officinalis: Helps mamas adapt to change, alleviates frustration, and soothes the nerves.

ALFALFA Medicago sativa: Stimulates lactation and increases the quality of breast milk while providing vitamins and minerals such as vitamin C, calcium, iron, and zinc.

CARAWAY Carum carvi: A galactagogue that also provides calcium and iron to the body.

ANISE Pimpinella anisum: Another galactagogue, Anise is also said to promote youthfulness and prevent nightmares.  Lovely!

Visit our S H O P to purchase Sweet Nectar Milk Blend and our other pregnancy and postpartum series tea blends.

Last Day for Winter Teas!

As the Yule season dozes off behind us and we begin the slow stretch towards spring, our Star of Yule Tea Blend and Winter Remedy Kits shall be retired for the year.  Today is the last day to place your order for our winter teas and kits at our S H O P.

But never fear, our tea time treasures, we'll be premiering new teas in the next few days to delight your senses and keep you healthy!

Holy Herb of the West: Yerba Santa

flowersociety.org

The sweet tasting Yerba Santa is said to enhance beauty and be useful in spells of glamoury and illusion. In addition to its ability to magickally alter the appearance of clever sorcerers, Yerba Santa is said to protect the wearer from illness and disease when worn around the neck.  Place it on your altar as a sacred offering.  Call them Bear's Weed, Holy Herb, Mountain Balm or Tar Weed there are many more ways than wearing our purple-flowered friend about our neck to improve our health.

Yerba Santa is an excellent herbal ally for the cold parts of the year when stuffed-up noses and congested chests are passed around like holiday gifts.  'Tis the season for giving (along with all other three seasons, but that's a bit beyond the point)!  Yerba Santa is an excellent remedy for a wet cold - one that is mucousy, sniffling, and has a cough.  As an astringent and decongestant, Yerba Santa dries up excess mucous by normalizing excess mucous secretion.  Normalizing mucous secretion means that you won't have to go back and forth between too much and too little secretion leading to being too dried out and equally uncomfortable.  In addition to its powers of mucous normalization, Yerba Santa is antimicrobial and antiseptic.

In addition to colds and because Yerba Santa strengthens capillaries and stimulates the cilia of the lungs, is appropriate for treating other respiratory conditions such as asmtha, hayfever, and sinus congestion.  It is also useful for digestive complaints because it normalizes mucous secretions in the gut.  The leaves can also be chewed to quench thirst.

flowersociety.org

Topically Yerba Santa can be used in poultices for broken bones, bruises, fever, insect bites, poison oak and ivy, rash, acne, sprains and sores.  Pretty darn useful.

I keep a small bottle of Yerba Santa tincture on me most days to help prevent asthma attacks brought on by environmental pollutants.  During a series of extensive fires outside L.A. a few summers ago the city became covered in a thick sky of ash.  I took Yerba Santa daily to help strengthen my lungs against the added environmental pollutant stress being put on my body.  It worked wonderfully and has been a well-loved herbal ally in my traveling apothecary ever since.  You can also use the leaves in a steam for clearing up congestion and opening the lung passageways.