This is a wild-harvested tea we make.
Fireweed tea is a unique oolong style tea we make by collecting wild Fireweed leaves, rolling them, fermenting them (so they oxidize like oolong tea) and then drying them. It is caffeine-free, but tastes like a deep-rich oolong/green tea, maybe even a bit like a black tea, but without the bitterness/tannin taste of green or black tea. In fact, Fireweed tea doesn’t taste like any other tea we have tried, so it is hard to compare its taste to other teas. It is a very comforting, warming, nourishing tea to drink.
Fireweed leaves go through a fascinating transformation during the oxidation/ fermentation process and after this process the leaves have much higher levels of antioxidants and Vitamin C and Vitamin A than they had in their unprocessed state. Although Fireweed tea is a pretty rare tea to find in Canada, it is a well-loved tea in Eastern Europe and considerable research has been done on its health benefits. Here are a few extracts from a research paper published in the journal Molecules by Lasinskas and colleagues (2020) about Fireweed Tea:
Fireweed has recently been recognized as a plant with high antioxidant potential and phenolic content. Its leaves can be fermented to prepare an infusion with ideal antioxidant activity.
Fireweed leaves are used in traditional and folk medicine and have various pharmacological effects: antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, anticancer and others. There are a lot of data on the beneficial effects of fireweed leaf tea in the treatment of anemia, headaches, infections and colds; the leaves are also useful in the treatment of various gastrointestinal disorders and prostate and urinary problems.
Fireweeds are an ideal source of polyphenolic compounds. In their leaves, many flavonoids and phenolic acids have been identified: quercetin-3-O-rutinoside, myricetin, luteolin, quercetin, quercetin-3-O-glucoside, kaempferol, gallic and ellagic acids, tannin oenothein B and many others.
We love it when something so good for us, also tastes amazing! And make sure you re-steep your tea leaves for a second cup, Fireweed tea tastes just as good on the second steeping as it did for the first.
How to use: Use about 1 tsp Fireweed leaves per cup of tea. Let steep 10 minutes, remove leaves. You can steep the same leaves a second time, it tastes just as good on the second steeping. Enjoy!
‘Fireweed’ Tea is limited to one per order please, thank you.
Within Canada only shipping on tea, thank you.
