An organic Portuguese infusion of lúcia-lima and tília — lemon verbena and linden flower. Caffeine-free, soft, and the most obviously bedtime-shaped of the CRIATURA blends.
Linden is not lime. Worth clearing up, because English is confusing here: the tília of Portuguese and the tilleul of French are the flowers of the linden tree, Tilia — called the lime tree in Britain, which has nothing whatsoever to do with the citrus fruit. The name is a corruption of the Old English lind. Linden flowers are pale, papery and extraordinarily fragrant for about two weeks in early summer, and are gathered with the pale bract that grows alongside them.
What linden tastes like. Soft, honeyed, faintly green, with a texture in the mouth that is almost slippery — linden flowers contain mucilage, which gives the infusion a rounder, fuller body than most herbal teas have. It is one of the very few herbal infusions with actual mouthfeel.
Where it sits in European life. Tilleul is the archetypal French evening infusion — it is what Proust's narrator was drinking when he dipped in the madeleine — and the same habit runs through Portugal, Spain and Italy. Linden flower holds a European traditional-use registration for the relief of mild stress and as an aid to sleep. It is worth understanding exactly what that status means: it recognises long-standing, safe, documented use, and explicitly does not require clinical trial evidence of efficacy. It is a statement about tradition, not about proof.
With lemon verbena — sharply citrus, high in citral, and the most lemony herb in the garden — the softness gets a lift and the blend stops being merely soothing.
Caffeine-free. Available at Só Verde, an organic concept store in Foz, Porto.
Criatura
Biohême
Criatura
Biohême
