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This year, Amy Wertheim of Wertheim Enterprises, Inc.
in Atlanta, presented a hands-on workshop at the event held on March
15. She directed participants in the best ways to concoct herbal tea
blends and brought a variety of herbs for participants to try
creating their own herbal tea recipes.
Wertheim is an eighth generation Logan County
resident who started gardening in 2010 to compete at the county and
state fair. Later she took a class in Chicago for creating salves
and lotions, which she began selling. During the pandemic she began
participating in an online farmer’s market. Meanwhile, she had
discovered an herbal tea from Georgia that became her favorite, but
it was expensive to purchase with shipping costs. She decided to try
blending her own teas with the herbs that she was already growing
and drying for use in her salves and lotions.
Wertheim dries herbs on racks in a climate controlled environment of
20% humidity or less, then stores whole herbs in tubs until she is
ready to process them. Making tea requires quite a large quantity of
herbs. She has grown 68 different herbs to add to her tea blends.
She calculated that in three and a half years she has made 9,500
bags of tea. Wertheim prefers to air dry her herbs rather than using
an oven or dehydrator because air drying preserves the oils and
flavors of the herbs. She dries the whole leaf and preserves the
whole leaf. She recommends not crushing the leaves until immediately
before dunking the tea bag into hot water.
All varieties of tea (white, green, black, oolong,
matcha, pu-erh) come from the same plant, they are just processed
differently. Although Werthiem would like to grow her own tea
plants, they will not grow in Illinois’s climate. Wertheim uses
white tea in her herbal tea blends. All tea has caffeine; however,
white tea contains the least amount of caffeine of the various
varieties. The only tea without caffeine is strictly herbal.
When crafting herbal tea blends, Wertheim encourages considering the
three notes of the tea: 1) smell, 2) flavor, and 3) after-flavor.
The third note, the after-flavor that lingers on the tongue, is the
most difficult to develop and achieve.
Some of her favorite herbs for using to create herbal
teas include anise hyssop, basil, chamomile, hops, calendula, and
lemon balm. She even recommends experimenting with culinary herbs
that are better known for cooking and seasoning, such as rosemary
and parsley.
Wertheim led participants in step-by-step
instructions for crafting the perfect herbal blend tea. She told the
group that the order of layering ingredients makes a difference.
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She recommends spooning a scant tablespoon of white
tea into the tea bag first as a foundation then adding whole leaf
herbs of your preference. Close the tea bag and then crush with your
hands to release the oils, flavor, and fragrance immediately before
steeping. Steep the tea bag in hot water for several minutes and
enjoy.
Werthiem provided the ingredients for participants to
make her recipe for Pumpkin Caramel Delight, which is the first tea
she crafted for sale, and her recipe for Top of the Morning Tea,
which she makes for herself in the mornings.
After brewing and sampling these teas, participants
were invited to create their own herbal tea recipes with the many
dried herbs Wertheim brought to the workshop. Participants were
given hand-outs to record the ingredients and quantity of herbs for
their unique creations with space to make notes about flavor and
aroma. Wertheim warned never to name the tea before tasting it
because you never know how it may turn out. At the end of the
workshop, participants were able to take home their hand-crafted,
custom-blended herbal teas to enjoy in the cozy comfort of their
homes.
[Stephanie Hall] |
