Wild Tea

I have a problem with some herbal teas.

They just don't have much flavor.  I have to mix them with other more flavorful teas to really enjoy them.

See, the art of having a cup of tea is therapy in itself.  It's calming.  It's relaxing.  It lets you stop for a moment and think.  Often it is at these relaxed times that great ideas wander into my brain, exactly when I am not thinking about them.

But it's hard to have a good 'cuppa' when the tea has little color and even less flavor.  What's the point?

I have never satisfactorily solved this problem, until now.

Years ago, I was reading Euell Gibbons and he mentioned accidently fermenting a pitcher of mint tea.  It was that fermentation process that changed the tea from a barely noticeable mint flavor to a 'wowie-zowie' flavor.  I tried it a couple of times, but have never been able to actually drink the result.  I just couldn't get over the idea of drinking water that leaves were rotting in.

Move ahead to a few months ago, when reading Henriette K. new book and she mentions that she ferments the leaves only.

Hmmmmm.

Real tea  is made from the leaves of Camelia sinensis plant.  Green tea is unfermented leaves, Oolong tea is made from leaves that have been fermented a short time and black tea are leaves that are fully fermented.

I tried Henriette's method which involves bruising the leaves, placing them in a jar with the lid loosely attached and held at 118 degrees for 24 hours on top of the dehydrator.  I used blackberry leaves.

Henriette's recipe gives a tea with more color than plain unfermented leaves, but the flavor was still bland.  I just wasn't satisfied.  I wanted a dark, rich cup of tea.

I used my handy-dandy pasta machine (that I got for a buck at a garage sale), cut the blackberry leaves into long, thin strands with the 'cutting' side, then put the leaves through the 'roller' side (twice) to bruise them.  I filled a mason jar about half full (leave room for shaking), screwed the cap on tight and put them in my dehydrator.  (OK, confession time.  My 'dehydrator' is a broken down 1985 Jeep Cherokee that's been sitting in the front yard for years.  I outfitted it with solar fans for air movement.  OK.  Now my red-necked secret is out.)  I put the jar under a seat, out of direct sun.  I shook the jar twice each day to redistribute the moisture from the juices.  I didn't want the moisture to pool up on the glass and mold.  After three days, I removed the leaves and dried them as usual.

And here's the final results.  The top cup of tea is simply dried blackberry tea.  The second brew is more like an oolong tea, of medium body and color.   This tea was fermented 24 hours.  The bottom cup is a full 3-day ferment, and loaded with a beautiful color and flavor.

Alas, the technique doesn't work for all teas.  It didn't seem to make a difference with sage or Tulsi basil.  But pretty much anything in the rose and mint families will have make a delightful, delicious cup of tea.  Actually, people that normally don't like herbal teas are comfortable with this one because it has the appearance and taste of traditional teas.

My next step will be to try smoking (in a smoker, like a ham, not like a cigarette), because I've had smoked teas made from C. sinensis, and they are wonderful.  And there is another type of tea called Pu'er that undergoes a double fermentation process.  Might have to give that one a go, as well. (In my spare time of course.  I think I can use those 10 minutes that I normally reserve for brushing my teeth...)