Welcome 2026!
by Melissa Fryar, HBC Manager
Happy New Year! I must say that I am super happy to usher out 2025 and have hope for a better year ahead. The past several years have been a lot. I’ve been contemplating what I would love to experience in 2026, and the short answer is… ease!
We have all been through so much in the past several years—pandemics, crazy storms, uncertainty. Personally, I think we all need a year of ease and integration. Joy! Dare I ask for fun?! Yup, I’m asking.
So, this post is focusing on ease and nourishment. It’s also National Tea Month, so we’ll talk about one of my favorite winter pastimes: drinking and blending teas to warm you through the cold.
I must admit that I love all seasons here, even winter. It is time to slow down and cozy into home. Read books, make soup, watch movies.
While most trees are bare and the land is resting, we too can rest. If you garden, pour over seed catalogs or read farm and food books to inspire the spring planting season. Nice days may call us out to clean up beds or watch the birds forage, but mainly, this season is for dreaming and resting. Our culture does not seem to make space for that. We’re pulled into the next holiday, or tax season, or whatever. So, I think it is important to take the space. Sleep more, take walks in the woods and notice the changes, the quiet.
Maybe that’s one of my favorite winter loves, the quiet. It is such a luxury in this world of 24/7 news, sensationalism, busy, doings. I am still hoping for a good snow this winter. The quiet when you take away the sounds of traffic and chaos, and you just hear that beautiful silence of the snow. Pure bliss in my opinion.
I did want to mention the crazy viruses and flus going around these days. Many of our staff were out around Christmas with a horrible bug. It was a bad one, and I had to pull out some new-to-me remedies.
Last month I shared some good immune support ideas, but I wanted to highlight a few things that really helped during my illness. I happened to have a sample of Host Defense Breath formula, which is mainly reishi and cordyceps. That, along with the ClearLungs formula from RidgeCrest Herbals, really helped ease my lungs and allowed for deep breathing.
I also love thyme steams—just throw a handful of thyme leaves (I used dried thyme) into a pot of boiling water, tent your head with a towel, and breathe deeply. You can add a drop or two of eucalyptus essential oil if you like as well.
Super garlicky chicken soup helped immensely, so consider making a batch and freezing some to have on hand in case you fall ill.
Currently, a week out from the funk, I’m taking several WishGarden Herbs formulas. Their Kick-Ass Immune, Deep Lung Blend, and Get Over It! Blend are helping clear my lungs and get me feeling normal again.
For the lingering spasmodic cough, I do drop doses (1–4 drops) of lobelia tincture, and Planetary Formulas’ Wild Cherry Bark Syrup helps with that lingering cough.
Tea-wise, Traditional Medicinals’ Throat Coat and Gypsy Cold Care are lovely for soothing the lungs and sore throat. These are all great products to keep in your pantry and are easy to take.
Now, lets talk about teas!
This is just an overview, as there are entire books about different teas, and the history of tea is vast. My hope is to give you a bit of information so that you may find the tea—or teas—that you will love best.
I drink a lot of tea in general, from nourishing infusions of nettles and oatstraw to green tea, black teas, white tea, and herbal teas. I haven’t met a tea that I don’t like!
Technically, tea is an infusion of the Camellia sinensis plant. We get green, black, oolong, and white teas from this plant. Typically, green tea is considered the most medicinal. It is picked and roasted in various ways to give you a variety of different tastes and brews.
Green teas: my favorite green tea is the Dazhang Mountain from Two Hills (which we carry in bulk), and I love any of the jasmine green teas. The jasmine pearls are spendy but absolutely decadent.
Oolong teas are partially fermented, and I recommend our Two Hills Osmanthus Oolong. It has a lovely flavor and has become one of my favorites this winter.
Black teas are fully fermented—and in the case of Lapsang Souchong, smoked. If you haven’t tried Dobra Tea’s Lapsang, I recommend it. The flavor is strong and smoky, and it’s lovely with added spices such as nutmeg, star anise, and cinnamon. It also pairs well with cream.
White tea is usually rare and made from the immature buds and leaves. Its taste is very mild but wonderful for those who prefer lower caffeine. We carry Mountain Rose Herbs’ White Silver Needle tea.
Tisanes or infusions: Now, all that said, we herbalists consider tea to be most any plant or mushroom that you can pour hot water over. Tulsi, hawthorn berries, dandelion, chamomile… The technical term for these is tisanes or infusions, and they are made from the aerial parts of plants—leaves, stems, and flowers.
Decoctions: A decoction is a simmered tea made from the roots, barks, and berries of a plant. Simmering these for about 20 minutes, covered, helps pull out the medicinal properties without losing the aromatics and volatile oils.
This is where it gets fun to play and try different combinations. Simply adding lemon peel and ginger root to a green tea is delicious. Or perhaps you want to make a nourishing blend of nutritive herbs such as nettles, oatstraw, red raspberry leaf—maybe some hibiscus for added vitamin C.
I definitely recommend starting slow if you are new to this. Know the properties of the plants you use, and having an understanding of plant energetics helps as well.
For instance, I tend to have a dry constitution. I also love to drink nettle tea, which is drying and astringent. So, to prevent myself from becoming too dry, I always blend in a moistening herb such as linden or violet leaf—maybe marshmallow.
Same with bitters: I love bitters and think they can help many with digestion and liver health. However, they can actually cool down digestion in certain people, so adding ginger or carminative herbs such as cardamom can help.
So, know the plants—their properties, and your own constitution. There are several books that can give you more information if you want to go down this rabbit hole, including Energetic Herbalism by Kat Maier and The Herbalist’s Formulary by Holly Bellebuono.
A few of my favorite teas that we carry:
Spicewalla Ginger chai – delicious warming spices
Republic of Tea’s Ginger Peach, Vanilla Earl Grey, and Saffron Rose
Organic India’s Tulsi Rose – when you need a delicious boost
Blue Lotus Chai blends
Mountain Rose Herbs’ Vanilla Rooibos (in bulk!)
Jasmine Green tea or pearls (we have had some out of stock issues with the jasmine teas, but they are on their way!)
I must also mention matcha. I personally love matcha from time to time BUT, like many things, it went viral on Tiktok or one of those social media apps, so there is a shortage. We are working hard to get supply in, but…plants do not care if they have gone viral or not. What is grown and harvested for the year is what is available. There is no “more” until the next harvest. Personally, I have quit buying it. I have a small supply that I will consume while I have it, but I have found that when demand goes up so quickly, often the quality suffers. It is a dream for most companies when one of their products trend, but it is not always great for the plants or the consumer. Many companies are limiting how much we can buy, so please be patient. Consider an alternative. There are so many great teas to experience.
I will leave you with a few tea blends that I make and love. Some for a specific body system or ailment, some just for fun:
Happy House Tea
This is from one of my favorite books An Herbal Feast and is a lovely hostess gift or just a nice tea to drink on those cozy winter days at home.
¼ cup each: Lemon balm, Spearmint, Oatstraw, Chamomile flowers
2 Tbsp. each: Rosehips, Lavender, Cinnamon chips, Orange peel
1-2 tsp. Ginger
Blend together and use 1 Tbsp herb blend per cup of water. Prepare as an infusion.
My Mountain Roots Tea
1 part each: Sassafras root bark, Eleuthero root, Dandelion root, Burdock root.
½ part each: Roasted dandelion root, Cinnamon chips, Orange peel.
Prepare as a decoction.
Paula’s Lymph tea
This one is great for keeping the lymph moving during cold & flu season.
2 parts: Red root
Decoct for 30 minutes, take off of heat and add 1 part each of: Calendula flowers, Self heal, Violet leaf.
Cover and let infuse for 30 minutes. Drink warm or hot.
Green Goddess tea
A nourishing infusion full of minerals and vitamins. Not only do I love this tea for adults, but it is a wonderful way to ensure that picky eater children get the nutrition that they need.
1 part each: Nettle leaf, Oatstraw, Blackberry or Raspberry leave
½ part each: Alfalfa leaf, Rosehips c/s, Spearmint
Blend all herbs together and store in a glass jar. Use 4 tbsp per quart of water. It is best prepared as an overnight infusion to extract the most nutrients from the herbs. I generally recommend 2-4 cups per day. Can be drunk hot or cold.
Rosemary Gladstars Berry Good Tea
This tea is so sweet and delicious even without adding honey or other sweetener. Also, its a wonderful tea to add in the winter, as it contains elderberries, which can help keep your immune defenses strong.
2 parts each: Dried elderberry, Dried rosehips
1 part each: Dried blueberry, Dried hawthorn berry
Prepare as an infusion (I prefer to do an hour or so to extract more goodness or even overnight) and add honey and lemon to taste.
Hopefully, these inspire you to blend up a few teas or try a tea new to you. I love having several tea blends to choose from each day and you can gear your tea shelf to meet your needs. If you suffer from headaches or sleeplessness, blend up some teas addressing those issues. Most of us deal with common issues so here is my list of recommended tea blends to have on hand:
Stress: Whether a lovely chamomile based tea or a more adaptogenic blend, we all have need of soothing our nerves. Holy basil, lemon balm, skullcap and passionflower are all good additions.
Digestion: ginger, catnip, peppermint, cardamom and fennel all can soothe belly ick.
Nutritive: Like the Green Goddess tea above, having a tea blend to nourish our bodies daily is a wonderful way to stay healthy and nutrient filled.
Root teas: I love including these daily, especially in winter. Many roots such as burdock, yellowdock and dandelion are fortifying and cleansing to the liver and help with skin issues, hormone imbalances, and digestive issues.
Pure pleasure: Sometimes we just want something delicious to drink. There are so many ways to blend teas that taste terrific. I often blend things that I forage, such as pine needles, spicebush berries, sassafras leaves and root bark. All of these common plants have delicious flavor and can be added to other herbs to make them tastier. Happy brewing!
We do have a few new things in HBC. I have long been an Underberg Bitters fan. We now have them in stock! Singles, 3 packs and even gift tins are available.
Black Lotus Shilajit – This company has the most extensive line of shilajit products than I have seen before. They have the typical resin and tincture, but also soap, infused honey, and my favorite…the Rose Shilajit Tincture. I have been adding it to hot teas, dandyblend, and straight water to boost my mineral intake.
The month of January also brings a 20% line drive on Mg12 products. Their line includes magnesium oils and magnesium bath salts.
Tea and baths just go together! So, blend you up some tea, pour a nice hot bath, and enjoys the winter. I wish you coziness, nourishing food and big love for the year ahead. As always, thank you for supporting your local coop. We appreciate you!
– Melissa
HBC Manager