Why I love Cannabis Tea + My Very Own Sleepy Tea Recipe

My Why.

Firstly I feel obliged to say: I LOVE HERBAL TEAS. There is not one day I will go to bed without my cup of tea and joint. From a very young age, I’ve been drinking Verveine from the garden as a calming tool in the evenings. I was speaking to a friend recently who shared with me: “I cannot sleep. My mind just goes, and goes, and goes. And I never sleep.” Mmmmh. There had to be something I could do to help. The first thing I suggested was, of course, to smoke a joint. To which she replied that she’s not really a weed smoker, and I remembered we had had that conversation before. Then it dawned on me: tea! And how about creating something with the help of calming, soothing plants and Cannabis! I went away with a mission: create a delicious cannabis tea recipe I could share with my friend to end her sleepless night. And I am so pleased to share it with you, too.

I had found another very concrete way to help people, and on a pretty short-term basis at that. Tea! Herbal Tea! Just to be clear when I refer to Tea in this article I will mean herbal tea/infusion. I rarely drink black tea anymore and although I very much enjoy it I have found so many benefits to other plants. As I was saying: TEA!

My Magic.

I can fairly say that Tea has become my latest creative endeavour, and I’ve been embracing it with wonder. Reading (or listening to, rather) Elizabeth Gilbert’s Big Magic recently has definitely given me a whole new gaze on my various activities, and how I choose to approach them. I now find it hilarious that, no longer than 1.5 years ago, the sentence “I am not a creative person” was part of my weekly vocabulary. The truth is, there is no such thing as a “not creative person”. Only people who chose to explore that innate creativity (whether consciously or not) and people who don’t. I also find it sad that at the tender age of 12 I stopped all creative activities, judging the flute, horse riding and gymnastics unnecessary in my life (my 32-year-old self’s eyes just rolled to the back of my head). The truth is, at least as far as the sports go: I was terrified. Following a long absence for injury (I fell off a very high tree and broke my arm in 2 places) I was too scared to return. Would the same people be there? Would things be different? Was I even welcome? So I did what anxiety drove me to do, and I gave up. It wasn’t until years later that I found a certain enjoyment in writing poems and essays in high school. Today, I write, I colour, I create teas, I craft boxes and labels, I decorate my notebooks with pretty stickers and feathers, I take gorgeous photos and work tirelessly to improve my website. I love it. I see now that that’s the most important – how happy it makes me, how much pleasure and delight it makes me feel. Not whether people like it, or me; not whether I am welcome, not even whether I am good at it.

Show me yours.

So let me ask you: what is your tea, your infusion, your recipe, your creative soft spot? How are you dedicating time to it? How are you nurturing this wonderful habit? Share the love and comment below.

But first, here’s the recipe for my very own evening time, sleep-enhancing herbal tea (created with love).

Sleepy Time Tea(H.C.) by A.M.P.

For 1 tea or 1 small tea pot

1 table spoon of Cannabis Leaves

½ table spoon of dried Linden flowers (Tilia)

½ table spoon of dried Camomile flowers (Chamaemelum Nobile)

½ table spoon of Valeriane roots (Valeriana officinalis)

Infuse in boiling water for 5-10 minutes. Drink hot before bed. Add lemon for an extra kick and honey for added sweetness.