Remember this plant? The one that’s growing in the tea garden, and I took a nice photo of, but didn’t know its name, but I liked the photo, so I still put it on the internet in a previous blog post?
It turns out this is Mamaki, a plant that is only native to Hawai’i and is known for its medicinal qualities. Mamaki is commonly made into a cleansing herbal tea, which is good for digestion and general relaxation. (That sounds like code for “a laxative that will get you high,” but it’s not.)
I was told by some of the other farmies (folks who work here) that just a few leaves would make a nice tea, so I picked three good-looking ones. One of my friends here said that the best way to make Mamaki Tea was to crush up the leaves and let them steep for at least five minutes.
I gave it about 15 minutes, having heard that Mamaki is a light tea, and wanting to be sure to extract as much flavor as possible.
I worried about not adding any sweetener, especially when I smelled the tea and it didn’t seem all that appealing. So far, none of my herbal teas have been great successes, so I took a sip apprehensively.
Amazingly, it had a nice flavor! Mamaki tastes similar to a light green tea — smooth and easy to drink.
A successful Tea Tuesday — what a nice change of pace.
5 Comments
Katie
I really enjoy that you are able to go through various plans on the farm and make tea out of them!
opportunemma
It’s pretty great! There are four different kinds of mint growing on the property!
Carl Miura
Hi Emma,
I saw your post on Mamaki Tea and was wondering if I could share it on my PahoaSunrise.com – Hawaii Facebook Page and Google+? Among many other popular Hawaii products, I sell Mamaki (http://www.pahoasunrise.com/beverage.html) in whole leaf packages and tea bags. Look forward to your response. Have a great weekend! Mahalo! Carl
opportunemma
Hi Carl,
Please feel free to share this post on your social media! I’m glad you enjoyed it enough to share with your customers and it was nice of you to ask my permission. Aloha!
Carl Miura
Mahalo Emma! When I shared your post, about 60 people saw it. Hope some of them went on to check out your blog. Take care! Aloha, Carl