People who follow us know that Cat has a passion for wild tea. But what is wild tea? Wild tea is tea made from plants that grow naturally in the wild. The ingredients are often foraged for, but Cat also grows a lot of her ingredients in her garden. This technically makes it not wild anymore, but it does make it safe and available.
There is a bit of controversy in the wild tea community about buying your ingredients for wild tea in the shops, because then it’s not wild. But we think you can totally do that if you want to. You might not be into foraging or growing your own food or certain things might not grow in your area. For example, Cat often fuses her wild tea with lemon, but that doesn’t grow in Ireland. The essence of wild tea for us is that you make it from natural fresh ingredients. No matter where you get them.
At the start of spring it can be quite hard to find wild tea ingredients in nature. Nettles and dandelions are some of the earliest plants to emerge after winter. And... they go very well together in a cup of tea.
So today we would like to share the recipe for Cat’s nettle and dandelion tea.
For one cup
- Two or three sprigs of young nettles
- Three or four dandelion flower heads
- Add hot water
- Let it steep for 5 to 10 minutes
Some things to think about
- Make sure you leave enough for nature. Nettles and dandelions are both really important for pollinators.
- All parts of dandelion are edible, but be careful with the stalk, there are some chemicals in it that can be toxic if consumed in big amounts.
- You can pluck the yellow dandelion leaves for a sweeter tea or throw in full heads for slightly more bitter taste.
This tea is very healthy
Nettles are a super food, full of vitamins and minerals. Dandelion can be used as a diuretic, is good for treating heart problems and high blood pressure. Both are very good to boost your immune system.