Sara Levine has worked as both a barista and herbalist for the better part of a decade. She splits her professional time between blending herbs for herself and others at Apothecary Tinctura and pulling shots of espresso at vegetarian hot spot City, Oโ City. Her customer base changes with her workplace, but at the end of the day both jobs boil down to serving customers and maintaining a deep knowledge of ingredients.
โFor me, with teas itโs like equal parts science, intuition, and flavor profile,โ Levine says. โThe science of it is obviously just knowing these herbs really wellโknowing their functions, knowing how theyโll interact with your body. The intuition is an interesting thing, because a lot of herbalists come from a clinical and scientific perspective.โ
She explains that while specific herbs have scientifically proven medical benefits, thereโs a certain merit to serendipitously following intuition while blending tea for individual customers.
โThe flavor profile is another thing,โ Levine says. โIs this person going to drink a tea that tastes really medicinal? Do they need something that is a little bit lighter, floral, and sweeter?โ
Levineโs featured recipe is what she calls โnutritive and nervous system regenerating.โ It emphasizes re-energizing, replenishment, and great tasteโa particularly appropriate combination for a barista in need of a cup of tea.
The blend consists of nettles, milky oat tops, rose hips, tulsi, and licorice. Nettles provide a boost of magnesium and potassium and milky oat tops are great for the nervous system, while rose hips add tartness in flavor and vitamin C, and tulsiโcommonly known as holy basilโacts as an adaptogen, which helps the body quickly adapt to stress. Licorice lends a unique sweetness to the cup, and as a synergistic herb helps harmonize the rest of the ingredients.
With dizzying variability, Levineโs advice for a barista looking to learn herbs is to keep combinations simple.
โI would pick a few herbs to start with,โ she says. โI wouldnโt overwhelm myself, because there are hundreds of herbs out there. Knowing 10 herbs intimately is so much better than knowing a hundred herbs on a superficial level.โ
Ben Wiese is a freelance journalist based in Denver. Read more Ben Wiese on Sprudge.