Ritual

Steep

Hot water, a few minutes, and something that was grown. The oldest way to take a plant, and still the best one.

Water, and how hot

Boiling water is right for root and bark, and wrong for almost every flower. A petal dropped into a rolling boil gives up its colour in seconds and its scent to the steam — you smell the best of it leaving the cup. Take the kettle off the boil and wait a minute before you pour. Full heat for anything woody; a little under for anything delicate.

How long is long enough

Longer than you think, and under a lid. The lid matters more than the timer: the aromatics are volatile, and an open cup sends them into the room instead of the water. Five minutes for leaf and flower. Ten, or a slow simmer, for root and bark — they are dense, and they give nothing up quickly.

What it is not

The category sells steeping as a correction. A tea for the morning after, a tea for the season, a tea for whatever you are apparently doing wrong. We are going to leave that out.

Hot water and a whole plant is one of the oldest pleasures there is, and it does not need a job to justify fifteen minutes. Make it because the room is better with it in it. That's it.