Here at Smallflower, we’re proud to offer a variety of herbs and teas for all of your wellness needs. From historic German recipes to new beverage blends, we believe that quality herbs are a vital element in your wellbeing toolkit. This is especially true around the holiday season, when care for ourselves and others is at the forefront of our minds.
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Every year in November and December, Smallflower produces the limited edition Gratitude Tea, inspired by the holidays and meant to invoke a sense of gratitude and thanksgiving.
However, none of this would be possible without Smallflower’s resident Herbs & Teas Production Specialist, aka ”The Tea Lady” Lisa Frye, who has been crafting and hand-packaging our herbs and teas for seven years now. Gratitude Tea is her creation and has flown off the shelves since its limited edition launch three years ago.
In the spirit of gratitude, we sat down with Lisa and got the inside story on what the Gratitude Tea blend means to her.
Q: What does gratitude mean to you? How did you come up with the name of this blend? How did you work to infuse that definition into the tea blend? In essence: how did this tea blend come to be?
A: Gratitude is really nothing short of a core principle for how I approach life on a daily basis. Over the years, I have cultivated a habit of thought that begins with appreciation for my personal sphere and extends out to the natural world. It informs a lot about how I approach my job here and my relationship to the herbs. When I was asked to formulate a custom blend for a holiday gift to customers and clients in 2021, the name became pretty self-evident!
The Gratitude Tea, first and foremost, is a holiday blend. In 2020 and 2021, we were in a unique cultural moment, to say the least. I was feeling like the experience of the holidays was being boiled down to its essence - in hyperfocus. In my family, we spent much of the holiday season gathered around an outdoor fire, and I found it so intimate and poignant. I was deeply appreciative of that time we shared. That’s what was on my mind when I was formulating the Gratitude Tea. I knew I wanted intense vibrant color and aromatic spices to evoke that nostalgic holiday vibe. The smoky note from the Lapsang Souchong black tea is initially kind of surprising, but absolutely essential in defining this blend and effectively striking the emotional tone I was striving for.
Q: What are the standout herbs in this blend and do they have any health benefits?
A: The Graititude tea was not at all formulated as a wellness blend, but as is the way with herbs - it is a secret, stealthy powerhouse of health support. It contains numerous warming and circulatory stimulating herbs to ward off the winter’s chill, anti-viral herbs as well as immune boosting antioxidants and mood supporting herbs.
Q: What was the process for creating this blend? How many iterations were there? And how did you know it was done?
A: This blend is really complex, and it did go through numerous, probably a dozen or so, iterations before I finally got it to match the experience I had in mind. All my formulations begin with some form of inspirational vision - I know what I want the blend to do and what I want the experience of it to be. This one was a little trickier than some because I was trying to create a specific emotional and spiritual experience rather than primarily a physical one. I always know when my formulations are done because there’s a sort of revelatory, a-ha moment. There’s a release of the tension in my mind when I’m not searching for another ingredient to answer a question the envisioned blend is asking. When I add that last critical ingredient, one deep inhalation of the scent of the blend will tell me it's done without even having to steep it to drink.
Q: What are you grateful for this Holiday season?
A: When the holiday season rolls around every year, I am always most grateful for my family and the privilege in my life that allows me to spend meaningful time in celebration with them. I’m also so grateful for the creative work that I get to do for Merz Apothecary & Smallflower, a business and institution that means so much to the people in my community and far beyond.
Q: Going into the upcoming year, what are you looking forward to?
A: In the coming year at work, I am looking forward to revamping and expanding the Smallflower Herbs & Teas brand, creating more new blends and continuously revitalizing our selection. Personally, I’m looking forward to continuing my herbal education, hopefully some overseas travel, and focusing on becoming a more actively engaged member of my local community.
