Wintergreen ---- or 'Canada Tea'

Hello tea lovers! Since the last posting was on a naturally occurring tonic of the forest (chaga), I wanted to follow up with another wild plant - one my favorites.  Maybe I haven't had enough time to explore the forest floor... but none the less, this is an extraordinary little tea leaf which is often overlooked.  Wintergreen.  I can say that this low growing shrub is named so, because it seems to stay alive under the pressure of our great snow season, and thrives in the spring.  Its quick to regain its colour from a deep purple to a fresh green in a matter or weeks after the snow has gone. 

Of course its berry is a edible 'mini apple' like fruit.

Its always a joy to pick and eat the tender berries, which seem to be common enough in the summer and fall.  The plant must be of the mint family, since it is comparable to a spearmint or peppermint in flavor, but still aromatically of its own kind.  It has a beautiful aroma sold in extracts of essential oils.  Of course, I encourage to take it as a tea... although it has many uses. 

The Native Americans were among the first to utilize the leaves of Wintergreen for a warming, minty brew that was also renowned for unique healing virtues. Wintergreen tea was the tea of choice during the American Revolution and the boycott of traditional tea imported by British traders.

I wasn't able to find any in depth research on that last note -- but powerful!  Our green tea leaf, 'camellia sinensis', consists of a untold variety of names such as green tea, black tea, white tea, oolong tea, orange pekoe, assam tea, earl grey, darjeeling... gunpowder tea ... basically serves as the base for any tea which doesn't explicitly say it is anything else. It fills the shelves, and to think that in North America, it could have replaced with wintergreen!  In fact, of its other known names, one of the most popular is 'Canada Tea'! 

Other Names:

Boxberry, Canada Tea, Checkerberry, Deerberry, Essence de Gaulthérie, Gaulteria, Gaultheria Oil, Gaultheria procumbens, Gaulthérie Couchée, Ground Berry, Hilberry, Huile de Thé des Bois, Mountain Tea, Oil of Wintergreen, Partridge Berry, Petit Thé, Petit Thé des Bois, Spiceberry, Teaberry, Thé de Montagne, Thé de Terre-Neuve, Thé du Canada, Thé Rouge, Thé des Bois, Wax Cluster. Wintergreen leaf is used for painful conditions including headache, nerve pain (particularly sciatica), arthritis, ovarian pain, and menstrual cramps. It is also used for digestion problems including stomachache and gas (flatulence); lung conditions including asthma and pleurisy; pain and swelling (inflammation); fever; and kidney problems. Some people use small doses of wintergreen oil to increase stomach juices and improve digestion.

Now I know I can be a shallow dude, but this is something else!  It is basically the minor equivalent of aspirin... the willow tree of the forest ground.  The other lovely fact, is it is often paired with our great white pines, another amazing tree (which also has a component that can be used for tea) 

Now, since it is common enough, you may be able to find some on the forest bed.  It is the most common ground cover I find, esp for the Northern Shield.  Heck, when I get a house, I'm going to plan a million of these seeds in the back yard with a few white pine so I don't have to mow a lawn. 

Now for the prep.  Please pick one leaf per plant for courtesy sake; these are hardy plants.  Wash the batch in the kitchen sink.  Let the leaves dry in a window, or even on the kitchen table till they feel almost brittle.  Save them away in a tin of sorts.  When steeping, place them whole in your cup or break them up (being brittle to crush after dried).  I prefer 6-7 leaves in the cup.  You will most likely have to submerse the tea leaves in a tea infuser of choice, as they will tend to stay to the top.  The leaves are highly resistant to being soaked, so pre-soaking them for a day or so will also make them steep better.  They will also soak better for the next 2 steeps. 

I hope you try this out guys ad gals!  Boycott those tea stores damn it!  Just kidding; they always have cute ladies in there -- but start getting creative with what is safe and good to have for your own tea preparations.  Here is a dude doing it the woodsman way in a YouTube vid:  Cheers!