Side-note, Rachel needle felted the stages of a flower growing from a seed to maturity around my cozy. Talented Woman!
It was actually Rachel that really got me loving tea when she came over at a time she knew I was in sorrow, mourning a heartbreaking miscarriage (the most recent of several) and brewed me a cup of what I can only describe as a tea that speaks to my soul. For the blend, check out her blog. The next day I went out and bought all the supplies to make the tea myself and drank several cups every day for nearly a month, at which point I began to branch out. The key, I've found is chocolate. Some people (silly people) have cream pitchers and sugar bowls, but not me. I have hot chocolate mix and rich chocolate almond milk. I always, AWAYS cut my tea with one or the other, save for the rare occasion that I simply mix in a scoop of honey.
Today was another turning point for me and it all began with Good Earth (for some crazy outrageous reason) no longer carrying my go-to Female Toner tea by traditional medicinals. I usually go through a box (or two or five..) of Female Toner a month. Good Earth's failure was quite distressing as I had no intention of going anywhere else before Christmas that would have my tea in stock. While crying in distress (ok, wandering in annoyance) I happened to notice they finally had some loose Leaf red raspberry leaf in stock which gave me a glorious idea to blend my own female tea. I knew the basic ingredients of the Traditional Medicinals brand and began grabbing every loose herb I could find that I knew was good for female reproductive health and relaxation.
When I got home, I mixed it all together and came up with a tea far tastier than any medicinal blend I've ever had (I say "medicinal," because, let's face it, you really can't beat cinnamon apple chai for flavor...). Rachel was over this afternoon and as we usually do, I put on a pot of tea. She graciously tested my blend and applauded my prowess. Due to my need to gloat and share I have written up the recipe for you to all make and enjoy yourselves. And don't forget to mix in some chocolate almond milk!
RECIPE:
1/2 cp raspberry leaf
1/3 cp peppermint
1/4 cp lavender
1/4 cp chamomile
1/4 cp nettle
1/4 cp ginger root
2 tbls rose hip
2 tbl licorice root
Mix well and store in air-tight container
Brew ten minutes before serving
1 tbls= 1 serving
Your blend should look something like this:
The extra nice thing about this tea in comparison to Female Toner is it not only tastes better, but is much more cost effective as well! I spent around $20 (the cost of 4 boxes of FT) and got about 6 months worth of tea! (That's drinking at least one pot a day).
