Herbal Tea Blends by Green Muse Herbs

We are truly blessed and honoured to stock incredible herbal tea blends (caffeine free tisanes) created by Green Muse Herbs, a herb shop and apothecary located in so-called 'Victoria BC’.  

These blends are poetic, enigmatic, aromatic, and flavourful. We hope to rotate through different options with the seasons. Green Muse works closely with local farmers to support a direct trade ecosystem of production and distribution, all so that we the lucky drinkers may enjoy the freshest and highest quality herbal ingredients available. 

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SOFTER

A rotating blend that at certain times of year can be made 100% from local farm-direct herbs. (Some of the components are only available 1x year in small quantities). The current blend is a mellow and textured mix of burdock, milky oat tops, marshmallow leaf/flower, rose petals. 

CRADLE SONG

A nice pre-bed blend containing Hawthorn, Linden, Chamomile, Spearmint, Sweet Woodruff, Strawberry leaf, & Rose petals. Sweet floral notes to lift your mood and relax your body & mind.

LAMPLIGHTER

A seasonal mood support blend to boost energy and ease seasonal transitions.

*This blend contains a small amount of St John’s Wort, which can interact with some medications & can increase photosensitivity. The quantity present here and method of ingestion means this note is perhaps exercising more caution than necessary but feel free to reach out if you are unsure if this is appropriate for you. 

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Brewing instructions: 

1 teaspoon (1g) per cup - or 4-6 grams for a big pot (or more to taste). Use boiling water and allow to steep for 10-15 minutes for maximum flavour and herb extraction (more extraction = your body accessing the properties of the herbs). 

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ABOUT GREEN MUSE HERBS

Green Muse Herbs self describes as “your local animist* herb shop”, helmed by Anna. Whether you’re after herbal support for specific symptoms, bulk herbs for culinary or medicinal use, tinctures, bitters, and more - there is lots to find here, sourced from small makers and growers or blended in-house. 

If you’re purely after flavour, Anna is an expert on the bitter, the earthy, the aromatic, and more, with a well of knowledge and experience with plants and their many parts and uses. Workshopping your own vermouth recipe? Hit her up! She can also guide you in the more general ways you might want to incorporate herbs into your daily life for general benefits and enjoyment.

Rigorous sourcing is the backbone of Green Muse Herbs. Everything in the store has been selected for very specific reasons from a bevy of small growers or makers.

If you didn’t know, it’s pretty rare for dried herbs / herbal teas to exist on a seasonal cycle and to be sold within the last year of their growth. (i.e. when you purchase herbs or tea blends from larger stores, where they’ve sourced them from a supplier, and that supplier has sourced them from another supplier, etc, they could have been grown and processed years ago, which means diminished flavour as well as potency.)  

Farm-direct sourcing takes more effort than simply buying in bulk from a wholesaler. It takes time, effort to research possible suppliers and form a relationship, cultivating multiple relationships to access a variety of plants, lack of security in terms of supply - but the advantages are many as well: supporting small scale growers with aligned values, visibility into farming practices and the way the plants were processed, and access to fresher more flavourful products grown/processed on a human scale.

This effort provides tangible value to us, the consumers, in the form of better flavour and potency, but this transactional benefit is not all we’re receivingl; it’s also about inviting us to participate in a different ethics of consumption - respect for relationships, (showing up for independent growers/businesses working with a similar level of care), respect for people and plants (understanding the social/biological/cultural context they emerge from), and a decolonial attitude towards benefitting from ‘land’, wherever you may be located.

In instances where certain plants are not available locally, Green Muse Herbs seeks someone who might be interested in growing them, essentially creating a market for them, or purchases product from small farms further afield with similar values-based approach.

Green Muse is a true catalyst and foundational supporter of bringing herbalism back to the land in a localized, decolonial and ethical way. 

*What is animism? It’s a worldview that respects ‘more than human’ life and systems, viewing all living things (and even those that we might not conventionally view to be alive such as soil, rocks, and water) as being imbued with a meaning, value, wisdom, and power. It is about respect and reverence for land and all life, and through a herbalist’s lens, it means treating plants with respect and appreciation, rather than simply as ‘tools’ or ‘products’ we can control or extract value from. I am open to correction if this explanation does not do it justice. <3