In good restaurants, along with expensive and very famous brands of Chinese, Indian or Ceylon tea, you can offer Koporye, or fermented Ivan tea. What kind of drink is this? This is Russian tea, or rather, an infusion from a plant called ivan tea. Its other name is fireweed. In our article we will tell you what it is and what, in fact, the benefits of fermented willow tea. In this regard, we’ll tell you some of the history of the origin of the blend recipe, popular in the village of Koporye, not far from St. Petersburg. You might be interested in a unique plant and want to learn how to ferment willow tea at home.
A bit of history
An interesting story is the origin of Kopor tea. Before the British learned about Indian tea and began to export it to European countries, everyone drank only Chinese. Since it was very expensive, it would be an exaggeration to say that everyone drank it. They drank herbal, fruit and cereal drinks, infusions, infusions, decoctions, sbitnits, etc.
The trade route from China to Europe went through Russia. For Russian taste, Chinese tea did not differ much from a drink from fireweed. Some of its varieties were better, while others were even worse than what they made from the same fireweed. However, in the Celestial Empire by that time for many centuries as a whole tea culture was formed. Tea bushes were divided into varieties depending on the growing area - soil quality, air temperature and light exposure. The properties of the same plant depended on how the tea was made. The Chinese know a great many methods of drying and fermentation. They are systematized and described in the medical and philosophical treatises of the eastern sages.
The same plant, depending on the locality of growth and the method of harvesting, not only had a different taste, color and smell, but also differed in biochemical composition and, accordingly, in therapeutic indicators. Koporsky fireweed probably resembled one of the very good varieties, which is why it became known outside of Russia. Maybe the Chinese merchants taught their Russian friends to make it according to oriental recipes and told them how to ferment ivan tea correctly, or maybe our ancestors dried it in a long way before meeting the Chinese and their national drink. Now this is not known for certain.
It is hard to say how we prepared herbs that are distinguished by fragrant leaves, our ancestors before we tried Chinese and Indian teas, but we will present the classic Kopor recipe and several other recipes in this article. It should be noted that according to the above recipes, other herbs can also be harvested - lemon balm, mint, oregano, currants, raspberries, etc. Just do not mix them together until the fermentation is complete. Each grass is best prepared separately. But to brew several different plants in one teapot is even very useful. You can learn to compose individual compositions. We will introduce you to some particularly tasty and healthy formulations and explain how they work. But first, we’ll tell you how to ferment ivan tea.
Grass picking time
The timing of the collection of medicinal plants is of great importance, and fireweed is certainly a very useful plant. Since in order to make ivan tea fermented, only leaves are needed for one recipe, and the whole aboveground part is needed for others, the harvesting period also stretches throughout the summer, including September. You need to do this in the morning, immediately after the dew, in the worst case in the evening, when the sun leaves its zenith. The most inopportune time is noon. Raw materials are collected in dry weather, after a period of rains and several warm days following it. Such conditions contribute to the juiciness and saturation of the biomass with useful substances. The terrain must be selected remote from industrial facilities, it is best if it is a clearing among the forest. It can be collected both in spring and autumn. Only during the flowering period it is not recommended to do this, because in this case flowers and seeds will inevitably fall among the leaves, that is, white fluff, which many do not like for purely aesthetic reasons.
Parts of a plant going to tea
Fermented Ivan tea is made from the aerial parts of the fireweed, although the roots of the plant are considered useful. In the old days they were dug up, washed, cleaned and ground into flour. This flour was used to make bread, cereals, stews and jelly. For medicinal purposes, the bushes were dried whole. They were dug together with the roots, several plants were tied together and hung in the attics. If necessary, the dried plants were untied and steamed with boiling water. This infusion, although it was not fermented, was drunk with various ailments. The most actively useful properties of many herbs are manifested in a special treatment - fermentation.
Fermented ivan tea has leaves, stems and roots. The best blend is obtained from the leaves alone, taken from the top. Tea made from all leaves from top to bottom has good properties.
How to remove leaves
To remove the maximum amount of foliage, you need to take the top of the fireweed with your left hand, and remove the leaves with your right pulling motion and immediately put it in the bag. It is more convenient to hang the bag over your head and left shoulder obliquely and move it forward. With a little training and with our prompt, quickly gather many leaves will work for anyone. In order to cook a traditional weakly fermented willow-tea recipe from the village of Koporye, you need at least one large package (such as those in which we carry products from the store) of leaf mass. A cheaper, but also tasty and high-quality blend is a fermented product from the whole aerial parts. We will only talk about leaf tea with weak and strong fermentation. Stems are not used in our recipes. For the preparation of granulated willow-tea raw materials need about a third more. Granules are a highly compressed green mass.
Properties of fireweed
It must be said that fireweed has long been well studied by phytospecialists. Even children can be given to drink at least fresh, at least dried, at least weakly or highly fermented Ivan-tea. The benefits and harms of this plant depend only on the amount of drunk infusion and the proper preparation of raw materials. It has a very mild effect on the body, although it is a tonic. Ivan tea has a good effect on metabolism, normalizes blood pressure, relieves fatigue and does not contribute to overexcitation. Even tooth enamel does not darken from it.
The first method is Kopor
The collected leaves need to be folded into a large wooden or enameled tub and mashed a little. You should not seek to make juice out of them. They need to be slightly crushed, that is, evenly deformed. Cover with a wet towel and put in a warm place for a day. During this time, the leaves will wither and soften. The next day they need to be twisted - take a small handful and roll them between your palms. Return the resulting pellets to the tub and cover with the same towel. Dip its ends in water bowls so that the fabric, absorbing water, remains wet all the time. The leaves will ferment for several days. Shake the tub from time to time so that the leaves do not clump.
How long it takes to ferment ivan tea depends on many factors - both on the temperature of the room in which it is located, and on air humidity, and on the quality of the feedstock. When the herbal smell is replaced by a thick aroma of overripe fruit, the fermentation process should be stopped. This usually occurs on day 4-5. Tea is sprinkled on baking sheets and, turning it from time to time, is dried in a hot oven. The door must be open for the oven to be ventilated. When the moisture in the leaves remains no more than 10-20%, that is, they will break when squeezed, the fire must be turned off and allowed to cool. After that, lay out in dry glass jars. Within a month, the absorption process will take place, that is, the alignment of the surface and internal humidity of the leaves. At this time, the jars need to be shaken from time to time. As for the question of how to store willow-tea fermented in this way, there are no special rules. It retains its properties well for a very long time - up to several years. It is only important to protect it from sunlight and not to allow overmoistening.
The second way - using a meat grinder
In stores, fireweights sell not only leaf, but also in the form of oblong sausages - granules. If you brew them, you get a very tasty drink with a beautiful reddish-brown color. Many are interested in technology: what needs to be done to receive such Ivan-tea? How to ferment? A meat grinder with large holes is the whole secret. The rest of the process is unchanged - to collect, mash and dry. However, there are some subtleties.
Collected leaves, without removing them from the bag, need to be wrinkled a little. Tie the bag tightly and leave for some time in a warm place. At this time, there will be a very important process of activation of intracellular changes in the chemical composition of fireweed - fermentation. As a result, the leaves will become soft and darken slightly. How much to ferment ivan tea? This is the most important issue that always arises in the production of any tea. Not only the taste and color of the drink, but also its microbiological composition depends on its duration. On average, it lasts from several hours to several years. But this is a very complex and time-consuming process. A good drink is obtained after drying for a day. Next, the leaves must be frozen in the refrigerator. This is done so that they scroll better and move along the shaft of the meat grinder. Soft leaves will get stuck in it. The grate should be taken with the largest holes, because when dried, the sausage granules will decrease in size by about half, even a little more. It is necessary to scroll the leaves through a meat grinder, put the granules on a baking sheet and send them to the oven, heated to 50-60 degrees, for 5-6 hours.
When the granules dry sufficiently and shrink, they will become brittle. Let lie on a baking sheet, cool and absorb. After a few hours, they can be laid out in banks.
Useful Combinations
Dry fermented fireweed is very good to do with the addition of leaves of other plants, as well as berries. With raspberry, currant or lemon balm leaves, it acquires an additional aroma of these plants. They make it with hypericum. Then it acquires a reddish-amber hue. Some sources believe that it is best to ferment each plant separately and mix only when brewing. However, with many plants this does not work. Fermenting raspberries or chamomiles is very difficult. At home, even more so. But it’s no secret that plant material that has undergone fermentation is much more biologically active than that which was dried without prior drying.
Granulated tea from fireweed can be made with natural berries of raspberries, currants, blueberries, blueberries, blackberries, etc. From spring to October, you can collect and harvest fireweed and other plants and stock up on fermented quality and different composition and properties for the whole year blooming Sally. The benefits and harms of it are constantly discussed by lovers of proper nutrition. Everyone agrees that a properly prepared blend has not brought any harm to anyone.
Granular tea with rose petals and calendula
We will tell you how to ferment Ivan tea with rose petals and calendula. Fireweed must wither and freeze, as described above. Rose petals and calendula should also be prepared, only keep them separate from each other. As for the duration of drying, they must be fermented as many hours as fermenting willow-tea. You need to connect all the plants together after freezing, when they become hard enough and are ready to scroll through a meat grinder. Dry also in the oven. If tea is harvested in summer at a summer cottage in the country, then there is another way of drying - in a pillowcase. Pellets need to be poured into a cotton pillowcase and hang in the shade of the trees. It should be shaken from time to time.
Granulated Tea with Berries
How to cook fermented willow-tea with raspberries or currants? In stores, it costs twice as much as plain willow tea. But to make it even at home is not so difficult. It is necessary to prepare the leaves of the fireweed as described in previous recipes, that is, wither and freeze. Berries in small portions should be poured into a meat grinder directly to Ivan-tea. It is important that their number is half that of the leaves of the fireweed. Otherwise, the granules after drying will become too fragile and will crumble very quickly. As for how to store willow-fermented tea with berries, the answer is unequivocal - in a dry place, in dark glass dishes.
How to make tea
On a glass of water, on average, one tablespoon of weakly fermented tea or one teaspoon of strong fermented tea is taken. It is most convenient to use an ordinary teapot or a French press. Insist a drink for 10-15 minutes. Then you can add boiling water, stand for five minutes and drink again. Unlike teas containing caffeine, fireweed does not become toxic even the day after brewing. It can also be cooked in a thermos. The fireweed drink has such a soft and pleasant taste that it does not need to be sweetened. It can be drunk with milk or cream.