Slow and easy~hibiscus tea

When I developed one of my most popular teas, 'Sweet Friend Blend', I was imagining something that would be good for all of my sweet friends who seem to be regularly pregnant and/ or nursing-something without caffeine, that tasted delicious and that was cooling and uplifting. I wanted a feel-good tea that would be great iced too. I added hibiscus to the blend (along with South Africa Rooibos, Raspberries, ginger and lemongrass) for it's beautiful bright red color and it's tangy flavor and only later found out, serendipitously, that this flower is known for it s association with longevity and femininity.

Medical research has recently increasingly supported what indigenous people have known for years-- hibiscus tea (made from the stamen of this tropical flowering plant) is very effective in reducing stress induced high blood pressure. Perhaps this is because hibiscus is known traditionally to balance "yang" (fast, hard, hot aggressive, masculine) with its "yin" energies (soft, tranquil, cool, night, feminine). It is the perfect antidote to a modern tension.

Here are some other ways Hibiscus is used:

~Boiled with ginger and cane sugar and served as an "agua fresca" in Mexico, where it is known as flor de Jamaica. Sweet Friend Blend makes a nice, sweet, iced "agua fresca".

~In a hair oil to prevent greying & hair loss

~Tucked behind a Tahitian woman's ear to signal weather or not she is available for marriage

~As an offering to Kali (Hindu Goddess of destruction and endings) and Lord Ganesha (Hindu God of new beginnings)

~To make Polynesian grass skirts


Photo: Wild hibiscus growing in the mountains above Cape Town, South Africa, 2007.

Tea Haiku: Basho

Matsuo Basho was a Japanese haiku poet who lived in the late 1600'ds, about the time that tea was making it's journey Westward into Europe. The son of a Samurai, Basho was slated for a life in the military, but his path took a turn when he became the servant of Todo Yoshitada, with whom he began writing and learning haiku.

Basho's life and poetry were influenced by nature, simplicity, wilderness and travel and marked often with reclusiveness and sometimes with an abundance of followers, disciples and students.

Since their creation and even in current times, his poems have been highly regarded and Basho is given credit, in some schools, for the very creation of haiku poetry. His poems are known to impart a sense of peace in a hectic world.

Here are some of my favorites:

A monk sips morning tea, it's quiet, the chrysanthemum's flowering.

After the chrysanthemum besides the daikon, there is nothing.

On horseback half-asleep, half dreaming the moon far off, smoke for the morning tea.

Photo: Cameilia sinensis, the tea plant at the US Botanical Garden in D.C.