Tea: Hummingbird Sage, Yerba Buena, Douglas-fir

For the Santa Clara Valley CNPS potluck, I decided to try making a few teas based on native plants, two from my own garden, Hummingbird Sage (Salvia spathacea) and Yerba Buena (Clinopodium douglasii), plus some packaged Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) tea that was a gift. Hummingbird Sage (Salvia spathacea) I tried to follow the suggestions from this recipe from Meghan Steinharter, manager for the Fort Funston and the Oceana nurseries: Freshly Picked, Tasty Tea Recipes (Archive). I picked 5 leaves, one per cup. I brewed the leaves with nearly boiling water for a little over 10 minutes. At the end, there was a strong smell of hummingbird sage (pineappley) rising from the thermos, and I could see a brown tinge to the water. Pouring it into a cup though, there wasn’t any visible color in that small amount I sampled. After brewing The tea was on the weak side, like the color in the cup suggested, barely different from hot water, but with a strong pineapply aftertaste. Maybe I should…

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