Teas, Tisanes & Cordials

There is a kind of quiet magic in stepping out to the garden in the early morning, fingers brushing the dew-wet leaves of lemon balm or chamomile, and returning to the kitchen to make something warm and restorative from nothing more than what grows at your very door. This little book began, as so many good things do, at a scrubbed wooden table with a chipped earthenware mug and no particular plan — only the desire to gather together what I have learned over a long life of growing, brewing, and sipping. Whether you come to these pages seeking a remedy for a restless night, a cordial to celebrate the soft abundance of summer, or simply the pleasure of a cup made with your own hands and your own harvest, I hope you will find something here that feels like coming home. ---

There is a drink for every moment in my day: a bright mint tisane to wake me, a chamomile brew to settle the evening, an elderflower cordial to catch the summer, a spiced apple to warm the winter. Each is a small ceremony — a pause, a comfort, a moment of care in a hurried world. Here I share all my favourites, gathered over decades, so that you too may always have something soothing to reach for, whatever the hour or the weather.

— Agnes