Describe the benefits of the newsletter – dazzling discounts, sneak peeks, limited-edition treats, exclusive deals, fashion tips.
10% off your first order10% off your first order10% off your first order10% off your first order10% off your first order10% off your first order10% off your first order10% off your first order10% off your first order10% off your first order10% off your first order
Cookie consent
We use cookies and similar technologies to provide the best experience on our website. Refer to our Privacy Policy for more information.
Wildcrafting & Handcrafting Ivan's Tea (Иван-чай) in Canada
·
Written by Pedro Villalon
·
Written by Pedro Villalon
What is Ivan's Tea?
Ivan's tea (Иван-чай) is a delicious wildcrafted tisane made with fireweed (Chamaenerion angustifolium), also known as "willowherb" in Great Britain. In Russian, it is called "кипрей" (kiprei).
Chamaenerion angustifolium is a perennial that grows throughout the northern hemisphere, across temperate Canada, the United States, Europe, and Asia.
Ivan's Tea, Richmond, BC
Reportedly, this drink has a long history dating back to the 12th century and is popular across several countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. However, the following article suggests that this history might be embellished. It is an interesting read, if you have a few minutes:
Regardless, our tea bar team enjoys drinking and handcrafting Ivan's tea. Perhaps we should organize a team next year to produce a larger batch to share!
A Short History at our Tea Bar
We first tried Ivan's tea at O5 in 2014, thanks to Zoya (Mirzaghitova) Dare, whose mother kindly brought some from Kazakhstan to Vancouver. It came in a jar in the form of tiny pellets. The tea was quite tasty, but no one at the bar knew exactly what we were drinking.
The next breakthrough came in 2019, thanks to Kseniya Parakhnevych, who generously shared her Ukrainian recipe for handcrafting Ivan's tea and her favorite foraging patch at Deer Lake. We have used this recipe, with some modifications, over the following years. Thanks, Kseniya!
Ivan's Tea, 2020 (slightly modified recipe)
Handcrafting Ivan's Tea, Step by Step:
1. Harvesting leaves and flowers: In BC's lower mainland, we may harvest fireweed in June and July. In the highlands (e.g., Cypress or Seymour), the plants may be best at the end of July. You can harvest tender leaves by holding the top of a stem with one hand and placing the other just slightly underneath, then sliding the lower hand slowly towards the bottom of the plant. The leaves will separate easily from the stem. You can also collect some flowers with a sharp knife.
Our first batch of Ivan's Tea, Burnaby, BC
2. Withering the leaves (slight oxidation): The leaves are allowed to wither in the shade for a few (4-6) hours. The leaves will be slightly oxidized and become more aromatic. They are ready for the next step when they become softer and can be easily rolled into a ball without breaking. The flowers may be sun-dried immediately, without any other processing.
Freshly harvested Ivan's Tea, withering
Softer Leaves (withered 4 hours)
3. Hand-rolling the tea leaves: This process is similar to the production of some oolongs. We've experimented with rolling individual leaves into tight or loose balls and with rolling small bunches of 5-6 leaves. This year, we settled on fairly loose one-leaf balls, which are quite bulky for shipping but enable more efficient overnight fermentation.
4. 12-24 hour fermentation in a cool, dark place: The leaves are left in a stainless steel container and covered with moist paper towels. This process develops interesting aromatics in the leaves, reminiscent of lightly oxidized oolongs. Someday, we'll experiment with longer fermentation, perhaps followed by charcoal roasting. Stop the fermentation when the aroma of the tea is delicious.
\
Lightly Rolled Ivan's Tea leaves
Covered with a Moist Paper Tower
5. Sun drying: During a very hot summer, our leaves dried in about 5 hours. You can also sun-dry your flowers.
Sun-Drying Ivan's Tea in our micro tea garden
6. (Optional) Baking: If you want to develop caramel-like flavors in your tea, bake it at 90°C for 45 minutes. The 'leafier' flavor of unbaked tea is also very good.
7. Mixing the leaves and flowers.
.
.
And you're ready to brew! We suggest brewing it like a lightly oxidized oolong. Gong fu style works quite well!
\
Comments