Everything you need to make a perfect cup — even if you've never brewed loose-leaf tea in your life. Start at the top, or jump straight to your blend.
The four things that decide every cup
Master these and every blend in the line works.
| Variable | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| How much tea | Use too little and it tastes like barely-flavoured hot water. Use too much and it turns heavy and bitter, the way coffee does when it's been sitting on the burner. Loose herbs are fluffy and take up far more room than you'd expect — which is why we give you a spoon measure, not "a pinch." |
| Water temperature | The most-ignored one. Water that's too hot burns delicate leaves and pulls bitterness out of them. Water that's too cool never opens the herbs up at all. Two of our five blends need water below boiling. |
| Time | Roots, bark and berries are dense and need a long soak — ten, fifteen, twenty minutes. Green tea leaves are thin and need three. Same kettle, completely different clock. |
| A lid | The one nobody does, and the easiest win. What you smell rising off an uncovered cup is flavour leaving. |
What you need
You almost certainly already own enough to make an excellent cup.
Essential
- Something to hold the leaves. A stainless mesh basket, a snap ball, or a fill-your-own tea bag. Bigger is better — herbs need room to swell.
- A mug or teapot. Ceramic and glass hold heat best.
- Something to cover it. A saucer, a jar lid, a small plate.
- Real measuring spoons. "Teaspoon" and "tablespoon" mean actual amounts here, and the difference is three times the tea.
Makes it easier
- A variable-temperature kettle — the best upgrade you can make if you drink Grounded Energy or Tame the Flame regularly.
- A timer. Steeping "about five minutes" while you answer an email is how a fifteen-minute cup happens.
Water — the part most people get wrong
Your tea is 99% water. It's worth thirty seconds of attention.
Start with fresh, cold water
Heat it once. Water that's already been boiled, or pulled hot straight from the tap, makes a noticeably duller cup — fresh cold water has more air in it, and that air is part of what makes tea taste lively. If your tap water tastes of chlorine, filtered water is a real upgrade, and you'll notice it most in the gentler blends.
Hitting the right temperature without a thermometer
Boil the kettle, then let it sit. These are close enough:
| Target | How to get there | What it looks like | Used for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boiling (212°F) | Use it the moment it boils | Rolling, churning bubbles | Night Root · Wild & Well · Cool Flame |
| 175–180°F | Boil, then wait 3–4 minutes | Steam thinning, no bubbles, still too hot to sip | Grounded Energy |
| 150–170°F | Boil, then wait 6–8 minutes | Steam barely visible, cup hot but not painful to hold | Tame the Flame |
Times assume an open mug at room temperature — a covered teapot holds heat closer to double that. If you're unsure, err cool: under-hot water makes a mild cup, over-hot water makes a bitter one, and only one of those can be fixed by waiting.
How to measure
Loose herbs are not like ground coffee. Volume is deceiving.
Our blends are whole and cut herbs — leaves, petals, roots, berries — so they're airy and irregular. Scoop loosely and level it off. Never pack it down. A packed teaspoon holds nearly twice what a loose one does.
| Measure | Roughly | What it looks like |
|---|---|---|
| 1 teaspoon | A small mound | About what fits in the hollow of your thumb |
| 1 tablespoon | 3 teaspoons | A generous, loosely heaped scoop |
| 8 oz water | 1 cup | A standard mug, filled an inch below the rim |
| 12 oz water | 1½ cups | A large mug or small tumbler |
The method, step by step
This works for every blend. Only the numbers change.
- Warm the mugOptional, and worth it. Swirl hot water in the empty mug and tip it out — a cold mug can pull your water down 15°F the moment it lands.
- Measure the tea into your infuserFill it no more than half full so the herbs have room to expand.
- Heat your water to the right temperatureBoiling for Night Root, Wild & Well and Cool Flame. Cooler for Grounded Energy and Tame the Flame.
- Pour over the herbs, not beside themAim right at the leaves. That stirs everything up so all the herbs get wet at once and start brewing at the same time.
- Cover it and set a timerA saucer over the mug. Set the timer for real — this is the step people eyeball and get wrong.
- Lift the infuser out and let it dripDon't squeeze it. Squeezing wrings out the bitter part — the stuff that leaves your mouth feeling dry and puckered. Let it drain on its own and set it aside.
- Taste it before you add anythingEvery time. Our blends are built to be balanced on their own — you may find you don't want the honey after all.
Your blend, exactly
Every number here comes off the tin. When in doubt, the label is the final word.
When to drink it: 30–60 minutes before bed. That window matters — this is a wind-down ritual, not a switch.
Taste: soft, floral, slightly citrusy, with a deep earthy finish.
When to drink it: morning or early afternoon. The only blend in the line with caffeine — treat it the way you'd treat a coffee.
Taste: a bright wave of citrus first, then a smooth, lightly grassy body.
When to drink it: any time of day. Enjoy 2–3 cups daily as desired.
Taste: bright and berry-citrusy, opening with a gentle tartness before finishing with a warm hint of ginger.
When to drink it: any time, including the evening — it's caffeine-free, so a late cup won't cost you sleep.
Taste: bright and floral with a gentle tartness that softens into a smooth, calming finish.
When to drink it: after meals, or any time you want a soothing cup. Note the larger 12 oz pour.
Taste: mildly sweet, lightly floral, soft herbal, with a slight warm spice.
Quick reference chart
Print this. Tape it inside a cabinet door.
| Blend | Tea | Water | Temp | Steep | Caffeine | Best time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Night Root | 1 Tbsp | 8 oz | Boiling | 5–7 min | None | 30–60 min before bed |
| Grounded Energy | 1–2 tsp | 8 oz | 175–180°F | 3 min | Yes | Morning / early afternoon |
| Wild & Well | 1 tsp | 8 oz | Boiling | 10–15 min | None | Any time · 2–3 cups daily |
| Cool Flame | 1 tsp | 8 oz | Boiling | 8–10 min | None | Any time, incl. evening |
| Tame the Flame | 1 Tbsp | 12 oz | 150–170°F | 15–20 min | None | After meals |
Six ways to brew
Same numbers, different vessel.
1 · Mesh basket in a mug — the default
The best everyday method. Drop the basket in, measure, pour, cover, steep, lift out. A wide basket beats a narrow one every time because the herbs can actually move.
2 · Snap ball infuser
Convenient and packable. One rule: fill it half full at most. A packed ball is the most common cause of a disappointingly weak cup. For the tablespoon blends — Night Root and Tame the Flame — a small ball may genuinely be too small.
3 · Fill-your-own tea bags
Spoon the tea in, pull the drawstring closed, steep like any tea bag, compost it after. Ideal for travel and the office, and you can make a week of cups ahead of time.
4 · Teapot with a strainer — for two or more
Scale by the cup: two cups means double the tea and double the water. A teapot holds heat much better than a mug, so let the water cool a little longer for the low-temperature blends. Pour everything out when the timer goes — tea left sitting on the leaves keeps extracting and turns harsh.
5 · French press — the easiest way to make a lot
A genuinely great herbal brewer. Add the tea, pour the water, rest the plunger on top without pressing — that's your lid — and steep for the full time. Then press slowly and pour it all out.
6 · Iced and cold brew
Iced: brew at double strength — same water, twice the tea — then pour the hot concentrate straight over a full glass of ice. The melting ice dilutes it back to proper strength. Brewing normally and adding ice gives you watery tea.
Cold brew: use about 1½ times the usual tea, cover with cold water, and refrigerate 8–12 hours. It comes out smoother and less bitter than hot tea does. Especially good with Cool Flame and Wild & Well.
Something's off — let's fix it
Tap any question to open it.
My tea tastes bitter, or leaves my mouth feeling dry
My tea tastes weak, like flavoured water
Tame the Flame feels thick or slightly slippery
My tea is cloudy
There are bits floating in my cup
It tastes too floral or perfumed
Night Root isn't relaxing me
Grounded Energy makes me jittery
Can I steep the same leaves twice?
Wild & Well and Cool Flame give a weak second cup — colour and gentle flavour, not much more.
Night Root and Tame the Flame — no. The first long steep takes what matters. If you do re-steep, do it the same day.
What can I add to it?
Keeping it fresh
Store your tin in a cool, dry place — away from heat, moisture, direct sunlight and strong odours, and keep it closed between uses. That's not boilerplate: dried herbs are porous and will take on the smell of whatever they live next to. A tin beside the stove is in the worst spot in the kitchen.
- Keep it in the tin. Opaque and airtight — that's the whole job. Decant refill pouches into a tin or sealed jar rather than leaving them rolled shut.
- Use a dry spoon. One damp scoop introduces moisture to the whole tin.
- Don't refrigerate or freeze. Condensation every time you open it is worse than room temperature.
- Not above the stove, not on a sunny windowsill. Heat and light fade both colour and aroma.
How you'll know it's past its best: the aroma goes first. Open the tin and smell it — a fresh blend is immediately fragrant. When it smells faintly of paper rather than herbs, the flavour has gone with it. Not unsafe, just tired.
Before you brew — a few things worth knowing
Talk to your healthcare provider first if you're pregnant, breastfeeding, trying to conceive, taking any medication, or managing a health condition. Herbs can interact with prescription and over-the-counter medications.
Night Root may make you drowsy. It's designed to. Don't drink it before driving or operating anything that needs you sharp.
Grounded Energy contains caffeine from green tea. Every other blend in the line is caffeine-free.
Our blends are crafted with herbs traditionally used to support wellness, comfort and daily balance. They are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
Now go make a cup.
Five blends, every one a family recipe. Blended by hand in small batches from certified organic herbs.
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