Deep Wellness Tea
For the days when breathing feels like work.
Deep Wellness is our most complex and purposeful respiratory blend — nine herbs assembled with the specific intention of supporting the body through the particular misery of seasonal illness, congestion, and the kind of deep, stubborn unwellness that lingers long after the worst has passed. This is the tea for the third day of a cold, when you're past the acute stage but still not yourself.
The blend draws on some of the most respected respiratory botanicals in traditional herbalism, including several that most people have never encountered but herbalists have relied on for centuries. Elecampane root — one of the great traditional lung tonics of European herbalism, with a deep, warm, almost balsamic quality — has been used since ancient times to support the respiratory system through prolonged illness. Yerba santa, a plant revered in Native American herbal tradition, brings its own remarkable history of use as a respiratory and chest-supporting herb. Marshmallow root provides a deeply soothing, mucilaginous quality that coats and calms irritated tissues from the inside.
These three anchor a blend that also includes elderberry for immune support, echinacea for its well-documented traditional immune-supporting properties, eucalyptus and peppermint for their opening, clarifying qualities that make every sip feel like a deep breath of cool air, lemon balm for its gentle calming effect on a body under stress, and licorice root to bind everything together with natural sweetness and its own long tradition of use as a soothing respiratory herb.
Brewed hot, the steam alone is half the experience.
Tasting notes: Deep and complex — warm, slightly balsamic earthiness from elecampane and yerba santa, a cooling clarity from eucalyptus and peppermint, natural sweetness from licorice root, and a smooth, coating finish from marshmallow root. Robust and medicinal in the most comforting sense of the word.
Best enjoyed: Brewed for 12-15 minutes in a covered cup to keep the volatile oils from the eucalyptus and peppermint from escaping with the steam. Inhale the steam as it brews — it's part of the ritual. A generous spoonful of raw honey and a squeeze of fresh lemon make this the most comforting sick-day cup imaginable. Drink as often as feels good throughout the day.
Best for: Seasonal illness and recovery, congestion and respiratory discomfort, the lingering unwellness that follows acute illness, or anyone who wants a serious botanical ally in their medicine cabinet before cold and flu season arrives. Also genuinely wonderful as a steam inhalation — brew a strong cup, drape a towel over your head, and breathe deeply for several minutes.