A Nice Cuppa

In a previous piece, ???What Color Are You?,??? the owner of the Village Tea Room in upstate New York’s Mid-Hudson Valley claimed that her burly male customers typically avoid the fruity and herbal varieties in favor of the brawny black teas.

Well, I think herbal teas merit another look through a guy???s eyes.

Herbal teas get less press in general than green, black, and white teas do. Maybe we???re more curious about these teas??? exotic appeal since they hail from the Orient and Far East. Or maybe we simply desire these caffeinated teas??? buzz. But the quiet, often beautiful herbal tea varieties–steeped from various roots, flowers, and leaves–are healthy, delectable, and seductive.

In fact, drinking a cup of herbal tea can feel like pausing to kiss a lover. To begin expanding your tea cabinet delights, try these three simple sensual herbal teas, one each for a different interlude of the day.

Hello, Ginger!
First thing in the morning, say hello to Ginger. I???m not talking about Tina Louise slinking around in a boyhood Gilligan???s Island fantasy. I???m talking about the spindly root with a much more bulbous body–ginger root (zingiber officinale)–who usually comes these days from sunny Jamaica.
Her aromatic scent enlivens me with the sunrise. Her soft skin readily peels and takes the plunge into the hot bath of boiling water. And, man, does this spicy lover kiss with a bite!

Folk traditions have hailed this spicy herbal root for centuries because she helps drop fever, stimulate alertness, aid digestion, and alleviate upset tummies. And, yes, she also relieves gas (she???s so forgiving).

Incidentally, get more bite for your buck. Powdered and packaged forms of ginger tea as well as the pre-grated jars of ginger lose some of the root???s volatile oil, the active ingredient that brings so many benefits with her sunrise spice. Who wants a lover in a bag or jar anyway? Get the real thing. For best results, buy a root in your organic grocer???s produce section. They usually appear in huge branches, so break off what you need–a few inches??? worth for the week. Keep these babes out of moist environs, too, so they won???t spoil. Then, slice or grate a half inch of the root, plop her into some boiling water, steep for ten minutes, and strain her essence into a cup. A little honey and lemon soften her spicy, biting flavor.

A tasty cup of ginger tea in the morning not only clears my system, builds my immunity, and wards off springtime allergies. A jaunt with this tea???s hot attention readies me for the day, eyes and pores wide open.

Afternoon Delight with a Nymph
If ginger reminds me of Tina Louise, then mint in the afternoon for some reason conjures Elizabeth Taylor in Tennessee Williams??? Cat on a Hot Tin Roof sipping a mint julep (even though such a scene probably doesn???t exist except in my imagination).

Nothing eases summer afternoon tension, fatigue, or heat like a rendezvous with peppermint tea. This cool-bodied lover softens my aches, massages my tired mind, and calms my anxiety and heart palpitations. Herbalists have used the volatile oil from antispasmodic peppermint???s (Mentha x piperita) lance-shaped leaves for centuries to aid anxiety, neuroses, abdominal cramps, sudden pains, and toothache. One herbalist claims that if you treat a slight cold or early indications of disease with peppermint, the herb will in most cases prompt a cure.

Couple the fact that she naturally cools the body???s heat and reduces perspiration with her refreshing flavor, and you have the makings for a perfect summer elixir. A cup of her is like cuddling in the cool green, green grass in June.

Consider growing your own peppermint, which is easy. Since these freedom-loving herbs spread outside of garden bounds, you might have a neighbor ready to give you a sprig or two. If you don???t grow your own, get the real thing versus the powdered bag versions. Again, you???ll get more mint for the money. When you buy a bunch of leaves and slice them yourself, your hands get the pleasure of feeling her cool leaves ease to the touch, and soon your fingers carry the scent, too.

To prepare, drop about an ounce of the fresh leaves (or a teaspoon of dried leaves) in a pint of boiling water, and steep for five minutes. Pour the fresh water over a tall glass of ice cubes, and add a little sugar or agave for a sweetened kiss.

Incidentally, perhaps my association of mint with Elizabeth Taylor is not completely random. Greek mythology has it that Menthe was a water nymph whose charms (and aromatic pheromones?) lured the Underground god Hades??? fancy. Of course, Hades??? wife Persephone and the nymph had an earth-rocking cat fight with a life-altering result: Persephone stomped the sweet-smelling nymph into the ground and thus turned her into the herb we now call mint.

Evening Comfort with Chamomile
And then there???s the sweet return home after a long day???s work to be embraced by a comforting Spanish-Greek lover who faithfully awaits your arrival. Chamomile, or anthemis nobilis as she likes to be called when donning her yellow and white floral evening gown from Rome, nurtures me and prepares me for a good night???s rest. She quiets my troubled tummy, cools my heartburn, and quells my aching head. Her soft skin smells like fresh apples–hence her name in Greek, kamai (on the ground) milo (melon, apple), ???ground-apple,??? and in Spanish, manzanilla, ???little apple.???

This little apple can be potent if not dried and treated properly, so read up if you try to harvest her yourself. (Purchase your own seeds at gardenguides.com) Otherwise, try the loose leaf versions so you???ll get a real feel for her tenderness.

She’s the true healer among lovers, so much so that Egyptians once dedicated her to the gods and some English gardeners claim that if an ailing plant in a garden grows near chamomile that she will help the wilting neighbor renew itself.

Be kind to her, and she???ll steer you back to the bedroom and assure you a good night???s sleep.

Full Disclosure
My one true love–and the real and direct inspiration for this piece–is Hillary Thing, an herbalist, professor of Oriental Medicine at New York City???s Pacific College, and founder of her own herbal teas and products, Earth Medicine Herbs (www.earthmedicineherbs.com). She helped me research and write this piece and referred me to many of the books mentioned below. And, yes, she is spicy, refreshing, and nurturing all in one. She has been known to stomp on mint, but only because she likes the scent.

Read Up
Some information for this piece came from Ms. Thing as well as from Mrs. M. Grieve???s classic A Modern Herbal volumes, Matthew Wood???s The Book of Herbal Wisdom, and Simon Y. Mills??? The Essential Book of Herbal Medicine.