Here at Daphnis and Chloe, we’ll use a large teapot when making tea for everyone, or a simple teacup strainer when it’s tea for one. And sometimes if a herb is easy to fish with a spoon, (like Mountain Tea) we might infuse it straight into the mug (lazy but efficient). Vessels are a matter of taste & practicality, but here’s one important rule: during the infusion, whole leaf herbs need space to breathe. If you want them to taste great, don’t squeeze them into a tiny strainer!

The average brewing time is 5’ and most herbal teas will start getting bitter if over-steeped. Steeping time is different for cold brews (eg. lemon verbena infused water takes at least 5 hours)

If you “stew” your herbs, you’ll end up destroying their flavor & precious antioxidants. If the water is tepid, your tea will be tasteless. For most whole leaf herbal teas, the water has to be around 95C (that’s like pouring from a kettle that has just started whistling).

This depends on how you like your tea, but a generic rule is enough to fill a spoon, which normally amounts to less than 1g. Use all parts (this includes mountain tea stems) as all parts contain essential oils. Herbs can be steeped up to 3 times, in the same day.

Add lemon, honey, ginger or a slice or orange to your Mint Teas. Pair Mountain Tea with fennel, or with a few leaves of Sage. Serve Dittany along with a prosciutto sandwich. And if you happen to come up with a mind-blowing combination, share it with us! We’re all ears…