Gourmets who know a lot about teas, when they meet, like to talk about the intricacies of the process of preparing a drink from a marvelous plant - Ivan-tea. Beginners in the tea business, wishing to join the connoisseurs, can draw a lot of interesting information from these conversations.

To begin with, it is useful to know that the leaves and flowers of Ivan-tea (often called "fireweed") are collected during the flowering of the plant - from late June to mid-September, depending on the region. But if you collect the leaves and immediately brew them, then you should not expect some unusual taste and divine aroma from the drink. As well as from tea infused on leaves dried in the usual way.

It is not that simple. You need to work on the crop: the leaves should be subjected to more thorough processing. Including fermentation - a process that allows them to concentrate all the healing and flavoring richness of a wonderful plant.

withering

First, rinse the leaves of willow-tea with cold water and shake off the drops. Then put the wet raw materials on a capacious pallet in a matchbox layer (5 cm) and dry in a shady place in the garden.

The process takes about 10 hours. In this case, the leaves must be stirred hourly. This will help them become soft and not brittle.

For those who are interested in how to ferment Ivan tea at home, but do not have the opportunity to wither the leaves in the fresh air, there is a freezer.

The raw materials should be put in a bag and sent for 10 hours in the freezer (-15 ° C), then thawed at room temperature.

Both of these methods equally contribute to the maximum extraction of juice in the next stage of processing.

Fermentation

Withered leaves need to be thoroughly kneaded with your hands and grind until dark and intense juice is released. Then you need to form small rolls from them and place them in a volumetric ceramic or enameled container in layers of no more than 5 cm, cover with a dense damp cloth (linen, cotton - synthetics will not work).

Put the container in a warm place (+23..+27 °C) for 8-12 hours. The end of fermentation will tell the smell. Lifting the canvas covering the raw materials, you will hear a pleasant, rich, slightly tart floral-fruity aroma.

Drying and packaging

Lay the leaves in a 2 cm layer on baking sheets lined with paper and dry the tea in the oven (+100 ° C) with the door ajar, stirring more often.

The optimal drying result: the leaves will already begin to break when squeezed, but will not yet crumble finely.

Scatter the finished raw material on paper in the shade. When it cools down, put it in beautiful jars and close it tightly.

Don't Forget the Details

• leaves and flowers of willow-tea should be collected away from roads;
• when withering, we protect raw materials from sunlight;
• containers used for leaf fermentation should be ceramic or enamel coated - metal is harmful to raw materials;
• during fermentation, the temperature under the wet cloth should not exceed +28 ° C, otherwise the raw material will deteriorate;
• temperatures below +23 ° C will slow down the process, increasing the fermentation time from 8-12 hours to a day, but will not bring harm.

Gain experience

Ideally, a beginner will be able to ferment Ivan tea the first time only by a lucky chance. If it didn't work, don't despair. Having wasted your strength, time and a bunch of fireweed leaves, but having shown perseverance, sooner or later you will still taste a delicious healing fragrant drink that many people prefer to traditional tea.

To get a healthy and fragrant willow tea, it is not enough just to brew fireweed leaves with boiling water. The best drink is obtained from pre-fermented leaves in a special way.

Fermentation is the process of preparing leaves, as a result of which the insoluble substances of plant fibers are converted into soluble and easily digestible. It is these components that give the tea a rich smell, light and taste.

Gathering willow-tea leaves

To obtain raw materials for a good drink, you need to follow certain rules, starting from the very first stage - collecting leaves. Collect Ivan tea at the time of flowering, when the upper part of the brush has not fully blossomed yet. It is best to collect grass away from the road, on the edge of the forest. The leaves there are the most juicy and tender, the tea of ​​them is the most delicious. In order not to damage the plant, leave 3-4 tiers of leaves under the flowers. In this case, Ivan tea will continue to bloom and produce seeds.

Choose dry, sunny weather in the morning, when the dew has just disappeared. But do not engage in the collection in the sweltering heat. The fastest way to collect leaves is to grab the stem with your fingers at the right height and slide your hand down. You will see that the leaves will stay in the palm of your hand quite easily.

Drying Ivan tea leaves

Rinse the leaves after harvesting. Spread a thick napkin or paper in a dry place, avoiding sunlight, and spread the leaves in a layer of no more than 5 cm. During the day, stir them several times with your hands.

Ivan tea fermentation

Now you can proceed directly to the fermentation process. For this:

• take a handful of leaves and start rolling between your palms until a ball is formed. The leaves will darken and release juice. The size of the balls is not important, the main thing is to knead the leaves well;
• fold the leaves into a wide container (enamelled pan or basin) also with a layer of 5 cm. Top with a damp, thick cloth;
• put the pan in a warm place for 20 hours. Time may vary depending on humidity and temperature. Optimal conditions - +25 degrees. But the exact time required for fermentation, you can only determine empirically. The degree of fermentation affects the taste and smell. Someone likes a very strong drink, others prefer weak tea.

Important! It is better to underexpose raw materials than overexpose. In the second case, the aroma of willow-tea will almost be lost, and the drink will become like black tea from a public canteen.

Drying willow-tea

After the fermentation stage is completed, finely chop the resulting balls or “sausages” and spread them on parchment or cloth, evenly spreading them over the surface in a thin layer.
Cover Ivan tea with a light cloth or gauze from dust. Stir it 2 times a day. When the leaves dry well, the raw material will look like a mixture of green and black tea. At the same time, tea leaves should break well, but not crumble into dust.

Koporye tea should be consumed as a drink after the so-called fermentation. We will learn more about this later, but for now, about the benefits and harms of fermented tea from Ivan tea.

The benefits are obvious due to the presence of a huge amount of vitamins, minerals and trace elements in this product.

The plant contains ascorbic acid six times more than lemon, vitamins of groups A, B and PP, it contains potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, copper, selenium, iron, calcium, zinc, sodium. It is successfully used as a tonic, tonic and therapeutic agent.

Due to the presence of essential oils, the properties of the drink are preserved for three days. Let us dwell on the medicinal properties and contraindications of fermented Ivan tea.

Did you know? Ivan-chai is considered a high-calorie product, contains about 100 calories per 100 g. Therefore, it is indispensable for travel, long-term hunting or fishing–strength is restored faster.

Medicinal properties

Due to its beneficial components, Koporye tea has been used for the treatment and prevention of a number of diseases since ancient times.

1. Proven anti-inflammatory and enveloping effect in diseases of the stomach and intestines. Tea helps with gastritis, stomach ulcers, duodenal ulcers and other similar ailments, is effective for various kinds of poisoning.
2. Beneficial effect on the circulatory system. If you drink a fireweed drink regularly, the so-called alkalization of the blood occurs, which is necessary to maintain its normal pH level. It promotes the formation of new blood cells and has the property of stopping bleeding.
3. Ivan tea can be used as a substitute for valerian for the prevention and treatment of various neuroses. It has a calming effect, helps with anxiety and depression.
4. For a long time, the drink has proven itself as a universal remedy for diseases and disorders of the genitourinary system. It normalizes potency, fights prostate adenoma and prevents it from developing into an oncological disease. It has a therapeutic effect in kidney disease and cystitis.
5. It is used as an anti-inflammatory and antipyretic drug. There is an effect in diseases of the oral cavity, bleeding gums.
6. Ivan tea acts as an immunomodulator, works as a powerful antioxidant and cleanser of the body, normalizes blood pressure, relieves headaches, and has a general strengthening effect.

Did you know? In Russia, the first mention of Ivan-tea as a healing drink dates back to the 12th century. Alexander Nevsky tried it and instructed to develop production in Koporye.

Contraindications

Since Ivan-tea itself has a healing effect, it should not be used in combination with other medicines, especially antipyretic and sedative. It is necessary to apply dosed, not "buckets" and take breaks after a month of use.

Otherwise, it will lead to indigestion. It is not recommended for children under six years of age, you need to drink carefully in case of blood diseases.

What is fermentation and why is it done?

The fermentation process is used to make Koporye tea at home. Consider what is the process of tea fermentation from a scientific point of view.

The main point is that the plant secretes juice, which reacts with air, which leads to fermentation and oxidation, then it is dried.
After such processing, all useful properties are preserved in fireweed and the drink acquires a fruity taste. If you just dry the leaves, the brewed tea will be tasteless and useless.

Therefore, there is an answer to the question of what fermented tea is - it is a drink with a pleasant fruity taste that has retained all the benefits of the plant.

The process of collecting and harvesting

To get a healthy drink later, it is important to understand what fireweed looks like. In nature, a plant as tall as a man, perennial, with pink and purple flowers.

Collect and prepare leaves of fireweed. The flowers are dried or fermented as an additive to a tea drink, and the roots are dried and ground to a state of flour. Cakes are baked from this flour, it is added to dishes.

Koporye tea is harvested during its flowering period, that is, throughout the summer. It is necessary to distinguish narrow-leaved fireweed from other species of this family. In marshy and damp places, you can meet marsh and small-flowered fireweed.
It is quite simple to distinguish them from Ivan-tea - the height of others is no more than 20 cm.

Did you know?Collecting a leaf does not harm the plant if done carefully and without damaging the stem. The plant is an excellent honey plant, honey productivity per hectare can reach 600 kg.

Collection of leaves

The collection of leaves begins in June and ends in August. It is good to find a corner away from the roads so that the product is environmentally friendly. It is necessary to collect young leaves, starting from the inflorescence and descending almost downward.

The stalk is strong enough, so you can simply drag it down with effort. Near the inflorescence, you need to leave several tiers of leaves - they will help the plant grow well further. It is desirable to collect the leaf in the morning, when the dew has already disappeared in dry, warm weather.

Opinions vary as to where it is best to do this. Someone advises open places with a lot of sun, and someone points to shaded areas and the outskirts of fields.
The latter argue that in such places the leaf is more tender and juicy.

Important!Fireweed leaves should be collected only until the flower is pubescent. Fluff is difficult to remove from the leaves, they are more rigid and they have significantly less useful properties.

leaf wilting

Withering is done in order to remove excess moisture from the leaves, which will interfere with fermentation. From this it is obvious that the sheet does not need to be washed before harvesting. Next, we place the leaves on the fabric with a ball no more than a few centimeters in height and leave to dry for about 12 hours.

Leaves should be stirred. The optimum air temperature for this process is up to 26°C at a relative humidity of about 70%. If the temperature is higher, the leaf will wither faster. The leaf is dried more often in the house in a dark place, less often in the open air.

In the latter case, there can only be a light breeze and a shadow - a strong wind and sun will dry the leaves, and not wither. The easiest way to check if the leaves are wilted is to take a few and squeeze them in a fist.
If they are not ready, they will disintegrate; if they are ready, they will remain in a compressed form. Then the leaf moisture will be approximately 60%.

Important! If you dry out the leaf during the withering process, do not add water.–raw materials are damaged. You need to collect fresh and repeat everything again.

Preparation for fermentation

The leaves have withered and you can begin the process of preparing it for fermentation. It is necessary to destroy the structure of the leaf and extract the juice from it, which contains the enzymes responsible for the process itself. This will allow the most complete release of useful substances from the plant.

If there is not enough juice, the fermentation will go badly, and the tea will lose its taste and a lot of usefulness. There are several ways to ferment Ivan tea at home, let's focus on the most used and proven ones.

Leaf curl

We take up to 10 leaves of the plant, put them together and roll them between the palms to make a “sausage”.
This is done with effort until the leaves become darker. This means that they have isolated the juice.

crushing leaves

Another recipe for how to make ivan tea at home is creasing. The raw materials are placed in a bowl, preferably enameled, crushed according to the type of dough kneading.

After 15 minutes, the leaves secrete juice and darken, become thinner and somewhat twisted. In the process, the leaves need to be divided, to avoid lumps.

Twisting in a meat grinder

A common way to make Koporye tea at home is to grind the leaves in a meat grinder.

To do this, a mesh with large holes is taken; in the process of twisting, the meat grinder needs to cool down for a short time.

Fermentation

The fermentation technology is directly related to the methods of preparing the leaf mass. Twisted leaves are folded into a pan in layers and oppression is placed on top.

All this should be covered with a cloth slightly moistened with water, and left in a warm, but not hot place. The best fermentation temperature for willow tea is up to 26°C.

If the temperature is low, the processes stop, if it is high, some of the products that give tea strength and taste do not dissolve, it will smell and taste like ordinary cheap tea.

In time, this process can last from 3 hours to 3 days. Longer fermentation - stronger tea. You can extend the fermentation up to a maximum of 12 days, but after 3-4 days it is necessary to rearrange the container in a cooler place and make sure that the mass does not become moldy.
There is a way to ferment rolled leaves in a three-liter jar.

It is necessary to fill it tightly with leaf sausages, cover with a plastic lid or a damp cloth and leave to ferment in a warm place. Fermentation time is not more than 40 hours.

Crumpled leaves can also be fermented using a 3 liter jar. Hike technology - the leaves are very tightly stacked, covered

and left in a warm place for a day. The aging time depends on the desire for further tea strength.

Crumpled leaves can still be fermented differently. To do this, take a piece of matter and moisten it quite a bit. So the canvas will not take the moisture of the leaves. Foliage is laid out on top, the canvas is twisted and tied with a rope.
The bundle must be mashed for about 20 minutes and left for pre-fermentation for 3 hours. It is necessary to check the temperature of the roll - if it is close to 37 ° C, the preliminary process is completed.

The best way to ferment willow tea at home, according to many, is from leaves processed by a meat grinder. It is the least labor intensive and the fastest in terms of time.

The mixture is stirred, a container is placed (it is better to use enamel or cermet), covered with a cloth slightly moistened with water and placed in heat for up to a day, usually from three to six hours.
Fermentation of Ivan tea at home is completed when the color of the leaf changes from green to green-brown, and the smell from grassy to bright fruity-floral.

Drying

The final step in the fermentation of willow tea at home is the proper drying of the leaf or twisted mass. If twisted "sausages" or crumpled leaves are cut before drying, small-leaf tea will come out.

Julia Vern 295 895 23

Nectar smell and amazing taste - this is how Ivan-tea, well-known to everyone and beloved by many, also called fireweed, characterizes it. In ancient times in Russia, infusions were made from it and taken orally as a real medicine that could cure many diseases. Today we will find out when to collect Ivan tea, how to harvest, dry and ferment this miracle plant at home, evaluate all the complexities of these processes and think - is it worth starting this whole thing?

June and August are the best time to collect Ivan tea.

Choose dry weather, and consider a few more points:

• The plant should grow away from roads, where layers of dust and other dangerous elements do not settle on the leaves.
• It is desirable that the place was a little shaded. For example, next to a forest belt. It is said that such leaves will be easier to ferment.
• Collect leaves only from the middle of the trunk, starting at the peduncle. Leave the lower ones, as they are necessary for fireweed to feed with moisture. Also, the lower leaves are rough.

There is no need to destroy Ivan tea, because next year you may no longer find it - the plant will simply die at your hands.

Even in a separate bag, you can (and even need to) collect fireweed flowers. Dry them at home, put them in a jar and then add them to your favorite tea.

withering

By the word, you can understand that during this process, the leaves should “wither” a little. To do this, pour them on a newspaper or other surface for a maximum of a day. 24 hours will be enough. However, this layer should be no more than five centimeters, and you will also need to periodically mix the leaves so that they are all in approximately the same condition.

You can not leave them on the street, and in the house you need to choose a place where they will not reach the sun's rays. The sun and wind will dry them, not letting them wither. If you notice bad leaves, be sure to remove them, as well as snails and other debris. In no case should you wash it - just sort it out.

When the day comes to an end, squeeze one sheet in half. If the midrib crackles, it's not ready. This usually happens in cloudy and rainy weather, and you have to wait more than 24 hours.

Twisting

If you have a large volume for harvesting willow-tea, it is not recommended to perform such an action manually. It is better to scroll through a meat grinder. When this is not possible, take the sheets and rub them between your palms so that they end up twisting into a “sausage”. This must be done until a little juice comes out.

Before you dry Ivan tea, you need to prepare it. To make it real, high-quality and tasty, pay special attention to the fermentation of willow tea at home. She plays a huge role.

After twisting by hand or with a meat grinder, put the leaves in a plastic or ceramic container, or you can take enamelware. If you twisted them with a meat grinder, put additional pressure on them with your hands to tamp a little, and if by hand, cover with a lid and put stones on top in order to create pressure for a while. Cover with a cloth and leave to ferment. Now consider the fermentation methods, because they determine what the tea will be like in the end.

1. Light degree - 3-6 hours. A fruity-floral scent begins to emerge. The taste of tea is soft, the aroma is strong, but delicate.
2. The average degree is 10-16 hours. Tea has a slight sourness, tart, pronounced aroma.
3. Deep degree - 20-36 hours. Tart with a light aroma.

Remember that it is better if it is a little under-fermented than over-fermented, because the likelihood of mold is high.

Drying

This is the last process. Let's talk about how to dry Ivan tea at home.

If you scrolled the leaves by hand, after fermentation, cut the "sausages" into half-centimeter pieces. Lay out a sheet of parchment paper on a baking sheet. Spread the leaves in a layer of one centimeter. Loosen a little so that there are no lumps left. Now you can dry Ivan tea in the oven.

Warm it up to one hundred degrees and leave to dry for up to two hours. Open the door just a little. Then lower the temperature to around 50°C. So the leaves should finally dry out. It is important that it needs to be stirred periodically. Try to touch: the tea leaves should break and take on the appearance of real tea. Be careful not to overdo or ruin your efforts.

After that, it still needs to be dried. When it cools down at room temperature, pour it into a bag of thin fabric and hang it outside (you can use a clothesline). If it's raining or cloudy, find a place for it in the house.

Time is different. When ready, it will rustle in the bag when shaking. You can also dry it in a pan with thick walls: for half an hour, while constantly shaking.

Leaves are not dried if:

• there is a strong aroma;
• the granules are crushed and crumble easily.

Ivan tea should be stored in glass jars, or in metal / birch bark boxes. The jars are covered with polyethylene lids. You can put containers, for example, in a pantry, or another place where it is dry and dark. To enjoy the taste of your own handmade tea, pour the tea leaves into a tin.

Ivan tea fermentation at home. The secret of making willow-tea is fermentation, as a result of which part of the insoluble (non-extractable) substances of the plant tissue turns into soluble and easily digestible. These are the substances that give taste, smell and color to tea. The process of preparing fermented Ivan tea consists of several stages. 1. Collection of Ivan tea. The leaves are harvested in June-August from the beginning of flowering fireweed to the moment of its fluffing. It is necessary to collect in dry weather, away from roads and polluted places, preferably in shady places along the edge of forest glades. In such plants, the leaves are more tender and juicy, they are easier to roll and ferment better, and the tea from them is tastier. It is convenient to collect the leaves of willow-tea, holding the stem at the peduncle with one hand, and holding it down to the middle of the stem with the other (in the photo this part of the stem is limited by red ribbons). The lower leaves are left on the stem, because. they are coarser than the top ones. It is advisable to leave 3-4 tiers of leaves under the flowers, the plant needs them to lift moisture from the roots and collect dew. This method of collecting leaves does not harm the plant - it continues to bloom and produces seeds. 2. Withering of the leaves This stage is necessary in order to make it easier to twist the leaves in the future. Collected leaves are inspected, damaged ones are removed. And there may be snails, we remove them too. It is better not to wash the leaves before drying, because. you can wash off the beneficial microorganisms involved in the fermentation process. Then the leaves are laid out in the shade on a cotton or linen cloth in a small layer (3 - 5 cm). On average, the process takes 4-8 hours, depending on humidity and air temperature. On a dry sunny day, the process is faster, on a rainy and cool day it takes longer (a day or more). Therefore, you need to control the process and periodically stir up the leaves every hour so that they dry evenly. The readiness of the sheet is determined by squeezing the leaf in half. If, when the sheet is folded, a “crunch” of the central vein is felt, then the sheet is not yet ready. If most of the leaves "do not crunch", then it's time to move on to the next step. 3. Rolling the leaves (or rolling in a meat grinder, or freezing) At this stage, you need to destroy the structure of the leaf before the juice is released, which allows you to extract the most useful substances from the plant and better ferment. This can be done in one of three ways. The first way is twisting the leaves by hand. Take a few leaves (7 - 10), roll them several times between the palms until the leaves turn dark from the juice that has come out. As a result, rolls up to 10 cm long and 1 - 1.5 cm thick will be formed. This process is laborious and time consuming. If you have a large company, then you can wind up the rolls pretty quickly. One of the books about Ivan-tea says that the old people taught to roll rolls of leaves at the expense of one to eight: “one-two - a ball of leaves, three-four - the ball is pulled into a sausage, five-six - we press harder, seven -eight - the twist manages to roll a few more times between the palms and collect the juice. The second way is twisting the leaves in a meat grinder (grid with large holes). Periodically let the grinder cool down. Depending on the number of leaves, this takes 10-15 minutes. The third way is freezing the leaves. We send the leaves in the bag to the freezer. As a result, the leaf is destroyed evenly and the juice stands out well. By the way, frozen leaves curl very easily and quickly. Therefore, if I decide that I will prepare loose leaf tea, I first freeze the leaves, then thaw them for a short time, and then roll the rolls. It is believed that the most “correct” tea is obtained by grinding the leaves by hand. I didn't feel a difference. Therefore, I often use the second method, as I prepare tea in large quantities. Everyone decides for himself which way to choose. 4. Leaf fermentation The properties of tea depend on the quality of this process - the taste, aroma and benefits of the drink. Leaves prepared by one of the above methods are laid in a 5-10 cm layer in an enameled or plastic container, crushed a little, covered with a damp linen or cotton cloth and put in a warm place (24-27 ° C) for fermentation. Periodically check if the fabric is dry. If it dries out, then wet it again. It is impossible to say exactly how long fermentation will take - it depends on the temperature. The higher the temperature, the faster the fermentation process. Too high temperature and overexposure are dangerous - tea acquires the smell of low-grade tea. The end of fermentation is a change in the color of the mass from green to brown or black, as well as a change in the herbal smell to a strong floral-fruity aroma. There are three degrees of fermentation of tea - light, medium and deep. With light fermentation, the leaves are fermented until the first signs of a fruity-floral smell (3 - 6 hours). After drying, they remain green. The brewed tea has a light color, mild flavor and a delicate but strong aroma. Tea of ​​medium fermentation (10 - 16 hours) is obtained with a pronounced aroma, moderately tart taste with a slight sourness. The color of this tea is rich, reddish brown. Deep fermentation tea (20 - 36 hours) - tart, without sourness, with a relatively light aroma. The color of this tea is similar to the color of the usual black tea. For yourself, it is best to choose the time experimentally, preparing weakly, medium or strongly fermented tea - it all depends on preferences and tastes. I prepare tea of ​​various degrees of fermentation, then I mix them in various proportions and get teas that are very rich in color, taste and aroma. It is important not to miss the end of fermentation, otherwise the mass may become moldy. It is better to underferment tea than overferment it. 5. Drying If the leaves were rolled between the palms or frozen, then after the end of fermentation, the rolls should be cut with a knife into washers about 0.5 cm thick. Then in the end we will get leaf tea. If the leaves were scrolled in a meat grinder, then we get granulated tea. The fermented mass is gently loosened so that there are no lumps. Then we lay out the mass on baking sheets covered with parchment, a layer of 1 centimeter and dry in the oven at a temperature of 100 * C for 1.5 - 2 hours. The oven door should be kept slightly ajar. Then we reduce the temperature to 50 * - 60 * C and dry it completely until the moisture is completely released. Periodically stir the tea with a wooden spatula and check the readiness of the tea leaves to the touch. Well-dried tea has the color of ordinary tea, the tea leaves break when squeezed, but do not crumble. When the bulk of the tea reaches this condition, we take the baking sheets out of the oven and let them cool. Drying tea to remove residual moisture is carried out in a bag of thin fabric (in an old pillowcase) in the breeze in the shade in dry weather or in a room in rainy and damp weather. You can dry the tea in an electric dryer. Only you need to lay out the mass not in a very dense layer, but with gaps so that the dryer does not overheat. You can also dry the tea in a thick-walled pan. To do this, the mass is simmered over very low heat with constant shaking for 30 minutes. Then turn on medium heat and, constantly stirring with a wooden spatula, bring the leaves / granules to a dry state. Carefully! If the temperature is too high and the tea is overexposed during drying, an admixture of the smell of burnt paper appears in the smell of the finished tea. If the tea is not completely dried, then during storage it may become moldy. If you have collected fireweed flowers, then do not dry them together with the fermented mass, as the flowers dry out faster and at a temperature of 100 * C they can simply burn out. They are best dried separately in the oven or el. dryer at a temperature of 50 - 60 * C. They dry out pretty quickly. I will add that during drying there is such a magical aroma throughout the house that it is worth making Ivan tea at least once because of this alone. 6. Storage of tea Fireweed tea is stored in a dry, dark place in glass jars with polyethylene lids, birch bark or metal boxes. I store tea in disposable plastic containers, labeled with the date of preparation and the degree of fermentation of the tea. Tea is aged in jars/containers for at least a month for the so-called dry fermentation. If you try to brew tea immediately after preparation, then it may not impress - it has not been infused yet. The longer the tea is stored, the better it becomes. I wonder all the time - where does this “additional” smell come from after aging tea? A month is better than a week. A year later is better than six months. Well, and so on. Wonders! The optimal shelf life of tea is 2-3 years. For daily use, I pour tea into metal boxes. I like to mix fireweed tea with dry fireweed flowers, dry strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, lingonberries, mint, lemon balm, oregano ... - it turns out very beautifully, and tea acquires a new taste and aroma. 7. Brewing tea Rinse a clean kettle with boiling water, pour tea at the rate of 1 - 2 teaspoons per glass of boiling water, pour hot water, cover with a towel, let it brew for 10 minutes, then pour into cups without diluting with boiling water. And immediately pour the teapot a second time, because the second infusion of tea is even tastier and more aromatic than the first. After another 15 minutes, pour tea into cups - no need for it to stop. And do not brew the same tea the next day! Even if you poured it only once, after a break it will not work out well. Drink Koporye tea hot, warm or cold. When heating cooled tea, try not to allow even the slightest boil of the drink. The subtle aroma will disappear immediately. You can drink Ivan tea with dried fruits, honey or jam. Sugar makes tea sweet. But you can drink without everything. Taste is very good too! And I read this recipe for signature Gorodets tea from fireweed in Margarita Voronina’s brochure “Gorodets tea is a joy to the soul, health to the body.” Bring the water to a boil (when the bubbles start to come off the bottom). Prepare two teapots - a large one and a smaller one. Pour one teaspoon of willow-herb into a small teapot (per one glass of water), pour boiling water over it and leave for 7-10 minutes. After that, pour into a large kettle. Pour boiling water over the already steamed tea leaves and insist again. And so - up to four times. The last time the tea leaves to insist no more than three minutes. This is done in order to consistently extract useful ingredients from fireweed. The famous hanerol, which contributes to the prevention of malignant diseases, is extracted for the third or fourth time. That's all, our Ivan-tea is ready! When you first taste it, don't immediately try to compare the taste to something you already know, don't try to figure out what it's like. Fireweed tea is unlike anything, it has its own taste, its own and unique. Enjoy this taste!