Last year a very good friend of mine took a trip to Greece. She was due a vacation, and had heard about the beauty of the land, the blue of the water, and the warmth of the people. She booked her flight and a hotel for a weeklong stay. I didn’t see her until eight months later. In her letters, she described what she learned and loved from each island, and wrote stories of how intoxicating and generous the people were. Every day she tasted new foods and savored new drinks. And when she finally returned, she brought with her a small, but wondrous piece of her experience. From a little herb shop on the Cycladic Island of Paros, I had the distinct pleasure of tasting for the first time Greek Mountain Tea.

Tea of the Gods
On the mountains of the beautiful Greek isles (Crete, in particular) there grows wild
a romantic looking perennial with fuzzy gray-silver leaves and stems, topped by continuous clusters of little yellow flowering buds. This plant’s delicate demeanor is keenly balanced by her hardiness. She thrives in altitudes over 1000 meters in rocky crevices, needing little water, little soil, and no care from man. She is the Sideritis syriaca. Classically, shepherds had picked this herb to make tea while tending their flocks high on the mountainsides. (The infusion is also referred to as Greek Mountain Shepherd’s Tea).

Greek Mountain Tea is actually a locally generic term used for most any tea made from a great variety of wild growing herbs. More often than not, though, when someone says Greek Mountain Tea, they are referring to Sideritis syriaca, commonly known in her homeland as Malotira. There are over 100 species of the genus Sideritis, which belongs to the Labiatae (Mint) family, 13 of which are known to grow wild in the Greek mountains. Another abundant relation is the Sideritis scardia griseb.

Other Mountain Teas you will find are Tilia Europea (Linden Flower), Salvia triloba L. (Greek Sage), and Diktamo Eronda (Dittany of Crete), a member of the Oregano family. Wild Chamomile, wild Marjoram and wild Thyme also thrive.

Because of the accessibility and abundance of these herbs, the common practice is to live off the land. What you find is what you use. If you come across something consumable (a vegetable, a tea), pick it and have it that evening. Often, teas will be named for the mountain from where they were picked, or the village in which it is found. The brew of choice will also change by the season, depending on what’s growing. Most importantly, this live-off-the-land practice has served the Greeks well. The herbs that make up Greek Mountain Tea hold exceptional properties.

A Panacea, Certainly And Hippocrates, father of modern medicine (460-377B.C.) hailed the herbs used to make Mountain Tea as succors to the immune system and the respiratory system.

These herbs are also credited with beneficial properties for stomach and digestive problems, rheumatism, and arthritis. In addition to those numerous properties, some teas may act as a menstrual regulator. Modern day Greeks, still look to these teas as their panacea, and just recently their faith has been affirmed. Studies have shown that Sideritis contains quite a substantial amount of essential oils (.01% - sounds small, but it’s not). Other studies have also identified over 60 components that have proven health benefits. These adaptogens (herbs believed to strengthen and enhance the immune system) contain, among other things, saponine, flavoniods, and an exceptionally high iron content. All of these substances are what we might find in spinach, soy, red wine, ales, and nuts: all the really good stuff. And it gets better: more new studies have shown the Sideritis may aid in the prevention of breast cancer and osteoporosis.