Sambucus nigra elderflower, dried and loose, makes a lighter and sweeter cup than most herbal teas offer. Cordial gets most of the attention, but the dried flowers do just as well steeped hot: sweetly floral in the cup, with an earthy finish underneath, and hints of lemon, peppermint, coffee and green vegetal character showing up as it sits. It's a complex little infusion for something so simple to make.
Elder is a common flowering tree across central Europe and North America, part of the genus Sambucus in the Adoxaceae family, and it grows wild in the Kentish countryside around Pluckley, where Kent and Sussex Tea and Coffee packs this particular batch fresh to order. The tree carries some old folklore too: people once planted elder by their houses believing it warded off lightning, and cutting one down was said to invite the wrath of whatever spirit was thought to live inside it.
Black, green, white and oolong teas all carry caffeine, but elderflower isn't tea in the conventional sense, so it comes without any. That makes it a fair evening choice if caffeine is what you're trying to avoid, though don't expect it to wake you up the way a real cup of tea would. Elderflower has long been reached for at the first sign of a cold, though that's tradition rather than anything proven by science.
To brew it, spoon the loose flowers into an infuser, set it in a cup or mug, pour over freshly boiled water and let it steep for five to ten minutes. A twist of lemon adds a bittersweet edge, and dropping in a few peppermint leaves alongside will brighten the cup further. Left alone, with nothing added, the tea shows its natural character best, which is worth trying at least once before you start adding extras.
