Mountain tea (sideritis)

Sideritis scardica, S. syriaca

infusion

Dried flowering stems, drunk as a tea with a lemon and sage scent, all winter, in Greece.

Origin

Mountains of Greece and the Balkans

Season (United States)

all year round

Preparation

A small handful of flowering stems is simmered for five to ten minutes in water; it is strained and drunk, with honey or lemon.

Did you know?

Shepherds drank it on the summits: hence its Greek name, “tsai tou vounou”, mountain tea.