Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1905-08-03
SOME SUBSTITUTES FOR TEA
Herbs With all the Qualities Of the
Chinese Plant and Cheaper.
fErov,, az rt..s..., niuoutN
(From the Literary Dig


That the flowers and leaves of various
plants and herbs will yield on infusion.
beverages Of various degrees OF medicin-
al value, is we'll known. Such teas
formed part OF the matcria medica of our
forefathers and are still widely used In
many localities. Their use for other than
medicinal purposes, however, 10 still local
and occasional. 1t liz the opinion or M
Jules Rudolph. who writes on the subject
In Cosmos. that this is largely matter
OF custom, and that ca-drinkers could
get along very we'll with camomile or
boneset II required to use either as n
substitute for ordinary tea. He gives
list of large variety of common herbs
that nc believes should serve the pur-
poses of the tca-drnkcr as we'll as the
Chinese plant. Writes NJ. Rudolph
This drink Uca) has now become
part of our customs. and its consumption
Is greater every year; II comes to us
from the English and the Dutch who
were the first to make use Of tho Chinese
beverage that Guy Patin called. in 1Gis.
an 'impcrtincnt Innovation and Joncquct
a French physician. named in 1861 the di-
vine herb
"rea. or an infusion Of 1t. Is an aroma
tic drink, more or less astringent and
stimulart. It aids digestion and quickcns
| the circulation by acting on tho nervous
system and tho intellectual faculties.
Now, other plants have exactly the same
qualities as the Chinese tea. but they
have the great fault Of being much
cheaper Every infusion Of plant that
has the same properties as tea will have
the same effects: thus the word tea has
| come to signify, in n general way. diges-
tive beverage and We shall see mat sew
eral plants may replace the real tea
One of them has already won consider
able place as Il digestive drink, so m'ich
so that instead of afternoon tea We may
some day have our afternoon camomilo.
Every one knows that camomile and its
properties it is tonic and stmulant' and
one soon becomes accustomed to its
slightly bitter taste. 1t is French
Towering plant. Anthomics nobils. and
tho variety most cultivated is that with
double flowers. which is moro active Than
the wild single -nowercd type.
What Is called European tea is FUR
nshcd by the official veronica veronica
of1cinalis). of very aromatic, bitter taste.
whose Towering heads are used, fresh or
dried. in the proportion of 80 grams to
|
quartz. French tea or Greek tea is
plant Of southern Frarc". Nh" Official
sage (Salvia ofcnalisl of strong and
agreeable aromatic odor. whose Hover
ing heads and leaves have pronounced
taste, hot and a trflc piq,iant: It's pro-
pcrties arc tonic stimulant and cordial.
Tho Mexican or Josuits' tea Is the
product of tho 'amhrosa' Whcnopodinm
If 'pnOSofOOt'
'pigwcedo an aromatic plant, native
Of Mexico. whose flowers and seeds have
stinu,ont propcrtics 'Oswcgo or
.po,nsv,vonjo' tea comes from horscmint
(Monarda ddymaD beautiful plant of
MEXICAN origin. often cultivated in gar
dens for its beautiful purple flowers. It's
leaves yield an agreeable tea.
"Thc Canada or mountain tea. call
ed also rcd tea or Newfoundland tea
lis the product Of the common winter
groom tGaulthcria procumbcns). whose
Inerfumed leaves are used for this pur-
nose" The author goes on to cite con-
siderable number of other shrubs whose
leaves and flowers may be used to make
:, substitute for tea. Among these the
only familiar onss are the Paraguay tea
Ulex nara gerayensisD so largely USED
in South America and the raise TEA
u.ant;1,a pscudo-thea) employed III
rr,zI Tho others make up hst OF
,tt,o moro than botanical names. NJ
R,,do,nh then goes on to say: III may
l., soon that there is great choice oi
n,arts that may he used for tea every
Icountv has found its own, so to speak, by
lacking among the weeds that sprih'' uP
Il, tie own fields. The digestive ana
s,imulant qualities OF these teas OF
course. vary with the species. ana IL II
nroncr to select those that posses tnc"'
in tho highest degree. We inchhe W ".
l,icvc that tho Roman camomile n'''S
fret n,acc. hut it is easy to try large
,rm,,cr Of other teas whose plants may
10 found in the Cardens--for here W"
must not discuss tastes. ana e"'' f'''
has it's own peculiar favor M
"I must not end this little notice WIN
ont speaking of an unknown te"' ~"
which I have found the recipe III NV
Revue Horticole for 1874. ana wh'ch Is
made from tie tarraPon (Artem's'a
| Dras,nculus) The common tarfasoh II
tonic and stimulant plant. febrifuG"
and stomache; it's Infusion has pehe-
tratinC odor and a very aromatic TASTE
rhe dried leaves arc used in TN" proper
ton of three grams to two dec'ilte'S vi
water (ahout half an ounce TO the quarp'
, and n very agreeable drink Is obtained
of n warm taste, whose action is favor
. able in cases of indiG oStion and weakness
Of the stomach / have tried TINS per-
. sonally and have found it very pleasant
tea to drink