The tea
Çaj mali, without the costume
Albanian mountain tea is Sideritis — ironwort — a silvery wild herb that grows on dry slopes above 1,000 metres. Cut as whole flowering stems in early summer, dried in shade, and simmered (not steeped) into a pale gold cup: soft, faintly resinous, honeyed without honey. It is naturally caffeine-free and has been the default evening pot of Balkan households for centuries.
What we will say
- It is drunk daily across Albania and Greece, traditionally offered to guests and kept for winter evenings.
- It is caffeine-free, gentle, and children drink it with honey.
- Herbal traditions value it; researchers study Sideritis with interest. Tradition and interest are what they are.
What we will not say
We will not sell you a cure. No “boosts immunity”, no “detox”, no ceremony-priced miracle. If a claim ever appears on our labels, it will be a regulator-approved one or none at all. The tea does not need the costume — it needs three minutes at a simmer.
Harvest, named
Every batch names its slope and season on the pack. One harvest a year, hand-cut, shade-dried. When a year is short, the pack says so and the price does not pretend otherwise.