Woodruff
Galium odoratum
Leaf, wilted or dried · cooling · coumarin
Fresh it is quiet. Dried it is vanilla-hay — the May-wine leaf.
On the nose
How it smells
Little smell when fresh. Wilted or dried it becomes sweet vanilla and fresh hay — coumarin — grassy-sweet and lasting. The May-wine leaf.
More hay & vanillaIn the mouth
How it tastes
When dried: sweet vanilla, hay, distinct coumarin. The May-wine cup.
Traditional use
Sweet woodruff of the shade. Folk kitchens wilted a few sprigs in white wine in May, and dried the leaf for linen. The smell is not in the living plant — it arrives as it dies, the same coumarin as sweet vernal grass.
In the cup
Wilt or dry, then a small sprig in a glass of wine or a sachet. Never a long decoction.
Blood
Sweet blood · sweet
Sweet first warms, then cools, and it softens. It is relaxing — the reason sugar went into cough syrups — nutritive, building, and hormonally active. Sweet herbs feed the brain and nerves, nourish spleen and pancreas, and coat dry tissue. They cleanse by moving blood toward the organs that wash it.
Read sweet bloodReached for
The promise
A careful hand
A pinch or a rare pot — not a daily habit.
Coumarin. A large or long pot can trouble the liver and, in some people, keep company with clotting. Traditional use is a pinch for flavor — May wine, not a high-volume daily tea. Skip in pregnancy and if you take anticoagulants unless a clinician agrees.
Read the whole promiseSits well with
Sweet vernal grass
Anthoxanthum odoratum
The hay that smells of vanilla when the scythe has been through.
Limit the cup
Ground, build, and settle
Lemon
Citrus limon
The bright slice that finishes almost every stillroom cup.
Chill & congestion · Indigestion · Sore throat
Brighten, circulate, and clear
Lavender
Lavandula angustifolia
A little goes a long way — the pillow herb in the teacup.
Restless sleep · Frayed nerves · Headache
Brighten, circulate, and clear
Traditional kitchen and folk use only. This is not medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. If you are pregnant, nursing, on medicine, or unwell, ask a clinician before drinking anything as a remedy.