Greek Mountain Tea

Thank you Bonnie for this sample!!
This tea scared me! for the longest time I avoided it, because a I had never had anything of the sort and b) I didn’t want to mess it up.
Now, that isn’t like me… I’m usually one to try new things so I have no idea what got into me! Every once in awhile I do that, with teas, but oddly never with food. Hmm.
Anyhow, I brewed it up nice and strong so that the flavours really pop. Spicy! Earthy! lemony, oh yup it’s all there. I must have had this before as it’s a familiar taste. Very familiar, only I can’t pinpoint it. Something herbal, I think. I WILL figure that one out! :P

My tea Addition to Steepster and My Photo that I took on the Island of Santorini Today after church, my friend Peter (who was born on the Greek Island of Lesbos..and refers to himself as a…well you can guess…) gave me a quart container of big silvery green leaves tinged with yellow…very interesting looking with big buds. It was labeled in Greek. Peter read the label and told me it was Greek Mountain Tea. COOL, and thank you Peter! Couldn’t wait to get home and look this tea up. Rushing home, I logged into the computer and googled Greek Mountain Tea…which brought up lots of information including health benefits and ancient history. This tea is a tisane. Officially it is Sideritis.
How to brew:
Directions were odd… 1/2 oz. in 1 Qt. boiling water for 10minutes (no more) then add honey and lemon if you wish. Drink 1 cup a day for health. Of course I had to break this down to cuppa quantities. I began with 1 TB in 8 oz for 9 min. The liquid finished pale yellow and has an herb type fragrance in a mountain meadow way that reminds me of living in the Northern California foothills as a kid during the Summer when you could smell the dry brush and Arbutus bushes and scrub Oak. When I tasted the tea it had a Greek oregano saltiness with a mellow herb flavor all it’s own. I added sweetening but no lemon and this was so different and delicious that I really liked the unique taste. As I sipped away, I was reminded of so many days playing outdoors when I was young without a care in the world. This is one of those memory tea’s in the same way that Lapsang Souchong reminds me of fires in the fireplace and camping. No wonder Wikipedia says that it is used as an anti-anxiety tea…I’m chillin!