Nettle

Botanical name: Urtica dioica
Native origin: Europe, Asia, Northern Africa, and North America
Part Used In Our Teas: Leaves

Nettle is an upright herb growing up to five feet high, with leaves that are serrated at the edges. All parts of the plant are covered in tiny, stinging hairs. Like many things with a prickly exterior, nestled within nettle is a kind, gentle and deeply soothing nature. In fact, the irony is that nettle is one of our gentlest plants, and one of the most useful through history not just for medicine but even food and clothing. Widespread in North America, nettle is used in herbal medicine to support joint health. Infused in boiling water, nettle makes a pleasantly refreshing, grassy-green tasting and slightly bitter tea with incredible tonic properties.

Did you know? In 1532, the German botanist Otto Brunfels wrote, “Could there be anything as trifling or as despised as a nettle? What could be as beloved as a hyacinth, a narcissi or a lily—and yet, the nettle surpasses them all.”

One of our suppliers collects nettle near the Bialowieza Forest in northeast Poland. It’s a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of the last remaining stands of the vast primeval forest that once stretched across Eastern Europe.