Elora Tea
Echinacea Purpurea - Immune Booster
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Dry, with notes of asparagus, echinacea produces a light herb tisane, which is commonly consumed as an immune system booster, to fight infections and ward of colds and flu symptoms.
CAFFEINE LEVELS: Caffeine Free
TEA SOURCING: France (Provence)
INGREDIENTS: 1st Grade, New Crop Echinacea Purpurea Leaves
ETHICS: Ethical Tea Partnership and GMO free
THE STORY OF ECHINACEA
Long before Europeans arrived on North American shores, Indigenous peoples valued echinacea as a medicinal herb. In the west, the Ute in what is now Colorado referred to the herb as "elk root", stemming from their belief that wounded elk ate the flowers as medicine. Throughout the Great Plains and Midwestern America various tribes used echinacea to treat everything from burns to swelling and pain, chewing it during sweat lodge ceremonies to clear the mind. Even the ancient Navajo considered echinacea as one of the sacred Life Medicines, and may have used a poultice made from its leaves to combat snake venom.
Today, echinacea holds great importance in the natural medicine industry, as practitioners of traditional medicine maintain that the plant can stimulate the immune system. Accordingly, tea made from the leaves is said to help fight colds, ward off the flu and ease upper respiratory tract and yeast infections. Western Medicine agrees. Mount Sinai Hospital organization reports that:
"Several laboratory and animal studies suggest that echinacea contains active substances that boost immune function, relieve pain, reduce inflammation, and have hormonal, antiviral, and antioxidant effects. For this reason, professional herbalists may recommend echinacea to treat urinary tract infections, vaginal yeast (candida) infections, ear infections (also known as otitis media), athlete's foot, sinusitis, hay fever (also called allergic rhinitis), as well as slow-healing wounds. Preliminary studies in the lab suggest echinacea may help inhibit colon tumors when combined with cichoric acid. One study even suggests that echinacea extract exerted an antiviral action on the development of recurrent cold sores triggered by the herpes simplex virus (HSVI) when taken prior to infection." The hospital notes, however, that studies have been mixed on whether echinacea helps fight off the common cold.
BREWING INSTRUCTIONS
BREWING INSTRUCTIONS FOR HOT TEA: Infuse one slightly heaping teaspoon for each 8 ounce cup with water brought to a rolling boil (85 degrees Celcius) for 3-7 minutes.
Infuse 6 slightly heaping teaspoons of tea with 1 1/4 cups of boiling water for 7 minutes. Quarter fill a serving pitcher with cold water, and add the infused tea, straining the leaves, to the pitcher. Add ice and top-up the pitcher with cold water. Add lemon and sweeten to taste. A rule of thumb when preparing fresh brewed iced tea is to increase the strength of hot tea since it will be poured over ice and diluted with cold water.
Infuse 1 slightly heaping teaspoon of loose tea with 6 ounces of boiling water for 7 minutes. Add the tea to a 12 ounce glass, filled with ice, straining the leaves. Add hot tea to a 12oz/375ml acrylic glass filled with ice, straining the tea or removing the bags. Add lemon and sweeten to taste.
NUMBER OF CUPS: 15-20 cups from each 50 grams of tea, with a single use of the leaves. Loose leaf tea is traditionally infused 3 times, with a different flavor profile following each infusion. Accordingly, each 50 gram bag can make up to 60 cups of tea.
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