Technology for preparing Ivan tea at home. Recipe for making Koporye Tea (Ivan-Chaya). Healthy drink

Sidorovskaya Yulia Sergeevna

After a long oblivion, today tribute to Koporye tea or, as it was also called, “Russian” tea, has returned again. It was he who was exported in large quantities to England and other countries. But external political and economic relations influenced the production of Koporye tea in Russia. At the beginning of the 20th century, due to a drop in demand for Koporye tea, its manufacturer (the village of Koporye) went bankrupt. The recipe for making tea has been lost. Only recipes that people used in their households have reached us. But Koporye tea is no worse than Ceylon, Indian, Chinese tea imported to us. A large assortment of pure Koporye tea from many manufacturers has appeared in tea shops in Severodvinsk and with various additives. One of them is the Shenkursky district of the Arkhangelsk region. But the cost of Koporye tea is quite high: from 150 rubles per 50 grams, which is several times more expensive than imported teas. That’s why we decided to research the technology for making Koporye tea and prepare it ourselves.

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TECHNOLOGY FOR PRODUCING KOPORO TEA

7 B grade, MAOU "Secondary School No. 6 s"

in-depth study

foreign languages"

Scientific supervisor: Myakshina

Anzhelika Olegovna, biology teacher

MAOU "Secondary School No. 6 with in-depth

learning foreign languages"

Severodvinsk

2016

Introduction
Chapter 1 Ivan-tea or fireweed, its characteristics 1.1 Biological features of fireweed tea 1.2 Chemical composition and use of fireweed tea
Chapter 2 Technology for making Koporye tea 2.1 Brief history of Koporye tea production 2.2 Stages of preparing Koporye tea
Chapter 3 The process of making Koporye tea
Conclusion
Bibliography
Appendix 1 Classification of fireweed
Appendix 2 Recipes for making Koporye tea
Appendix 3 Stages of preparing Koporye tea
Appendix 4 Photos of the process of making tea and brewing it

INTRODUCTION

Tea shops in Severodvinsk now have a large assortment of pure Koporye tea from many manufacturers and with various additives. One of them is the Shenkursky district of the Arkhangelsk region. But the cost of Koporye tea is quite high: from 150 rubles per 50 grams, which is several times more expensive than imported teas. That’s why we decided to research the technology for making Koporye tea and prepare it ourselves.

Currently, fireweed is being studied from the point of view of its use in medicine (more than one dissertation has already been written) and tea making. One of the enthusiasts of the production and promotion of Ivan tea in Russia is Evgeniy Denshin. He annually organizes the All-Russian Festival of Ivan Tea, which takes place in early June in the village of Nikolskoye, Nizhny Novgorod Region. There you can try and buy Koporye tea from different manufacturers.

The topic of the research work is “Technology for making Koporye tea.”

Purpose of the work: to analyze recipes for making Koporye tea and prepare it yourself.

Tasks:

1. Study the literature on this problem.

2. Collect recipes for making Koporye tea.

3. Make your own Koporye tea.

Hypothesis: we assume that we will be able to make Koporye tea ourselves using ancient recipes.

Object: Ivan-tea or fireweed

Subject: technology for preparing Koporye tea from fireweed

Research methods:

literature analysis,
observation,
photographing,
comparison,
measurement, measurement
experiment,
systematization and generalization of the obtained data.

Research base:

Arkhangelsk region, Pinezhsky district, Zemtsovo village

CHAPTER 1 IVAN - TEA OR FIREWILLOWER, ITS CHARACTERISTICS

1.1 Biological features of willow tea.

The fireweed family includes several types of fireweed (Appendix 1). Not all types of fireweed are presented in the table, since this is a large family. Almost all types of fireweed are used in medicine to treat many diseases. In human economic life, only angustifolia fireweed and small-flowered fireweed are used, and for making tea only angustifolia fireweed is needed. (9, p. 23)

Fireweed or fireweed (Chamenionan gustifolium) is a perennial herbaceous plant, a species of the genus Willowweed of the fireweed family (Onagraceae).

This plant has more than 20 subspecies.

Fireweed is a tall grass (50-200cm) with long leaves. Leaves are alternate, sessile, sometimes with very short petioles, simple, linear-lanceolate, pointed, wedge-shaped narrowed at the base, sometimes almost round, 4-12 cm long, 0.7-2 cm wide, finely glandular-toothed or entire along the edge, dark green above, shiny, bluish-green below, purple-red, sometimes pale pink. (5, p. 15)

Flower with double perianth, four-membered, bisexual, 2.5-3 cm in diameter, collected in a sparse apical raceme 10-45 cm long, pale pink, less often white. Flowers open from 6 to 7 am.

At the base of the pink petals it is easy to detect drops of nectar, which the winged workers remove up to a thousand kilograms from one hectare, then turn it into fragrant light honey. According to experts, fireweed honey is the sweetest, and if the honey is fresh, it is the most transparent.

The stem is erect, round, simple, glabrous, densely leafy.

The rhizome is thick, creeping; numerous additional buds develop on vertical and horizontal roots, which contribute to rapid vegetative propagation.

The seeds are very small with white hairs; up to 4 billion seeds are sown per hectare. They have excellent germination and germination energy. Ripen in August.

Ivan tea grows on all continents in the temperate climate zone. On the territory of Russia it is usually found in the coniferous forest belt of the European part and Siberia. Prefers well-lit places. It can be found in dry sandy places in light forests, flat banks of rivers and streams, in meadows, burnt areas, clearings, forest edges, along railway embankments and ditches, near crops, in vacant lots and in vegetable gardens, dried peat bogs. (4, p. .112)

The further north Ivan tea grows, the more vitamin C it contains.

There are several legends about the name Ivan-tea, they all say that the plant is named after some guy or man Ivan. In folk medicine, this plant is called fireweed.

There are other names for fireweed: dremukha, hripnyak, dormant, mother plant, fur, weeping, creaking, skrypnik, breadbox, melonichnik, wild hemp or wild flax, fire grass, fireweed, fireman, nanny flower, willow-grass, willow-grass (6, p.59).

He is called the gorevik, fireman, fire grass because he is the first to come to the aid of a person in restoring nature after various natural and man-made disasters. And it is a nanny flower due to the fact that, massively populating fire sites, fireweed serves as a nanny for young trees. A special warmer climate is created there.

N. Verzilin in his book “In the Footsteps of Robinson” calls Ivan tea a “combined” plant due to the use of all its parts. The roots are used to make healthy flour, sweet in taste and rich in vitamins. Young shoots are used in salads; they taste like asparagus. Fireweed down is used to stuff pillows and blankets. And from the stems they used to make ropes and fabric much stronger than linen. (1, p.71)

1.2. Chemical composition and use of fireweed tea.

The composition of fireweed tea is quite useful. Young rhizomes and leaves of fireweed contain from 10 to 20% tannins. The leaves contain up to 15% mucus, but there is none in the roots. In addition, there is a large amount of plant fibers, cellulose polymers, as well as pectins, vitamin C (from 90 to 588 mg per 100 g of raw herb, which is 5-6 times more than in lemons), sugars, organic acids, pectin, flavonoids and traces alkaloids. Microelements include iron, copper, manganese, nickel, titanium, molybdenum, boron, potassium, calcium, lithium, etc. (8, p. 22)

Thanks to such a significant composition, fireweed tea has medicinal properties. It has a beneficial effect on insomnia, headaches, normalizes intestinal activity, is an astringent anti-inflammatory, mild laxative, hemostatic, anti-poisoning agent, and relieves tension. It removes poisons and toxins from the body and helps with alcohol poisoning. In addition, fireweed normalizes blood pressure and treats male diseases (potency). (2, p. 274) Recently, studies have proven positive results for the treatment of cancer.

CHAPTER 2 TECHNOLOGY FOR PRODUCING KOPORO TEA

2.1. A brief history of Koporye tea production.

Fireweed tea has many names: heroic tea, fireweed tea, Russian tea. But the most common name is Koporye tea. It received this name because of the place where it was produced. This is the village of Koporye, St. Petersburg province. This village became a supplier of this tea from Russia to Europe and at one time took 1st place in exports.

The first mention of Koporye tea dates back to the 12th century. Then, due to certain circumstances, tea stopped being exported and consumed. Unfortunately, the recipe for making tea has been lost. But currently there is an active study of the properties of this plant, the collection, preparation, and consumption of Koporye tea. We found 8 recipes for making Koporye tea in literary sources. They are presented in Appendix 2. But the technology for producing Koporye tea is almost the same.

2.2. Stages of preparing Koporye tea.

Before obtaining high-quality Koporye tea, it is necessary to go through the following stages of this process (Appendix 3):

1. Collection of leaves and flowers.

Ivan tea must be collected during the flowering period, which approximately begins at the end of June and continues until autumn. It is important to collect the grass at a time when the flower cluster has not yet fully bloomed.

Experts advise cutting off the tops of young shoots in early May - June - they can be used to make tea of the highest quality. (8, p.44)

If you are collecting closer to autumn, when seed pods with fluff are already beginning to form on the lower branches, they should under no circumstances be included in the collection.

Collection is best done in the morning, after about 10 o'clock. If the weather is very hot, then it is better to postpone the collection, because by the time you collect the required amount, the leaves in the basket will simply spoil. And one more important circumstance: you should carefully ensure that not a single insect gets into the raw materials - this can ruin the entire harvest. (9, p. 22)

It is more advisable to collect leaves and flowers separately, since they cannot be dried together.

2. Withering of leaves.

The leaves are scattered in a layer no thicker than 5 cm per day or day until they become limp, and it is necessary to stir them periodically, not allowing the leaves of the top layer and along the edges to dry out. This is necessary so that at the next stage it is easier to extract the intercellular sap from the plant. Some recipes indicate that the leaves must be withered for 2-4 hours in the sun.

Withering is more necessary for manual processing of Ivan tea so that the leaf becomes soft. To prevent the sheet from losing too much moisture, sometimes it is necessary to cover it with a wet cloth to keep the raw material moist.

But, if you prepare granulated Koporye tea, then you can skip this stage and go straight to processing. (8, p.47)

3. Leaf processing.

Processing of leaves can be manual or mechanical. The main task of this stage is to prepare the leaves of Ivan tea for fermentation, that is, the leaves should give juice. Processing depends on what kind of tea we want to get: leaf or granulated. Manual processing is suitable for preparing loose leaf tea.

The leaves are rolled between the palms of the hands into small spindle-shaped sausages until they darken from the released juice. Alternatively, you can roll it with a wooden rolling pin on a wooden surface.

If you prepare granulated tea, you can use a manual or electric meat grinder with large holes.

4. Fermentation is the process of fermentation. It consists of air oxidation and roasting. Oxidation triggers fermentation processes in a crumpled leaf that gradually oozes juice; the “culprits” of the fermentation process are anaerobic bacteria. Roasting (drying) stops (kills) them. The less time passes between the start of fermentation processes and their stop, the less fermented the tea will be considered. During this period, you can add other leaves, as well as berries. There is no clear opinion regarding fermentation. Some believe that fermentation should be carried out at room temperature, others - at a temperature of 30 degrees.

The twisted leaves are placed in a 5 cm layer in an enamel bowl or tray, covered with a wet cloth and placed in a warm place (24-27 C) for 6-12 hours to ripen. The higher the temperature, the faster the fermentation process occurs; the end of the process is characterized by a change in the herbaceous smell to a rich floral-fruity one. Too high a temperature and overexposure are dangerous - fireweed takes on the smell of low-grade, over-boiled tea.

5. Drying.

You can dry fireweed in the sun on lattice trays, in ordinary dryers, in baking sheets, in an electric stove, in a Russian stove, or on a drying mat. Ivan tea is recommended to be dried at temperatures up to 55 degrees. At the same time, the maximum amount of useful microelements and vitamins is preserved.

The fermented leaves are finely chopped, spread on sieves or baking sheets covered with parchment in a layer of 1-1.5 cm and dried, periodically checking readiness by touch. Well-dried tea has the color of real black tea, rich and stronger than its own; the tea leaves break when squeezed, but do not crumble into dust. When the bulk of the tea reaches this condition, the drying temperature is reduced, and the draft, moderate during the drying process, is sharply increased. If the temperature is too high and the tea is left in the dryer, an admixture of the smell of “dry paper” appears in the bouquet. (8, p. 61)

6. Storage.

Like real tea, Koporsky tea requires tight packaging for storage - best in glass jars with plastic lids or in ceramic containers. Koporye tea reaches marketable condition after about a month of storage, and subsequently its properties, like those of real tea, improve even more. The dried flowers also make an excellent drink. Storage of Ivan tea should not exceed 2 years. (4, p. 116)

CHAPTER 3 PROCESS OF KOPORO TEA PRODUCTION

Having studied the theoretical material, in the summer of 2016 we set out to make Koporye tea ourselves.

To make tea we needed: paper, glassware, scales, electric meat grinder, oven, gauze, household dryer for vegetables and fruits, containers for storing tea.

Place of collection of raw materials: Ivan - tea was collected in the Pinega region, the village of Zemtsovo on a former collective farm field. It is located along the Pokshenga River. This is an environmentally friendly place, because... Now you can only get there by boat or on foot. Over time, the field was abandoned and, as expected, fireweed appeared there first. Now there are huge thickets of fireweed and growing birch and pine trees (Appendix 4).

The first collection was held on June 12, 2016. Ivan-tea was not very big yet (15-25cm). The leaves are tender, soft, light green in color. There were practically no flower stalks. It is noteworthy that under the trees the leaves were more juicy, green, without red sunburn. And the leaves of the fireweed, which were located in the center of the meadow under direct sunlight, were tougher, had a darker color and reddish tips. The leaves were placed in a small plastic basket (Appendix 4).

By tearing off the tops of the plant, we promote greater bushiness of fireweed. Subsequently, it will be possible to collect more leaves from this plant.

It is believed that the top leaves produce the highest quality tea.

It was decided to make tea according to a recipe that is more often found in literature.

The leaves were laid out in the attic of the house for a day on paper to dry. During this period, the leaves were stirred three times. The leaves were then twisted in a meat grinder and placed in a glass pan for fermentation. Fermentation was carried out for 18 hours. The tea from the top leaves was dried on a baking sheet in an open oven at a temperature of 100°C for about 2 hours, constantly stirring the tea with a wooden spatula (Appendix 4).

The second collection was held on July 9, 2016. At this time, fireweed had already begun to bloom. It was decided to prepare 2 types of tea from the collected leaves - leaf and granulated.

Withering was carried out by the total mass, and then 200 grams of withered leaves were measured for each type of tea.

Granulated tea was made in the same way as tea from the top leaves. When making loose leaf tea, the dried leaves were rolled into sausages with the palms of the hands and placed in a glass container. This method allows you to make large leaf tea. If you need to prepare medium-leaf or small-leaf tea, then you need to chop the resulting sausages (not with a metal knife).

Fermentation of both types of tea was carried out at room temperature (25° C) for 24 hours. But both types of tea were dried not in the oven, but on a special household dryer for vegetables and fruits (Appendix 4). The drying temperature in it is 50-55°C, which allows more nutrients to be retained in the tea.

The weight of dried leaves for both types of tea was 200 grams, and the mass of tea was: granulated - 25 grams, leaf - 26 grams. We can conclude that to prepare 1 kilogram of Koporye tea, 4 kilograms of dried leaves are required.

Preparation of granulated Koporye tea is a less expensive process in terms of time and physical costs. But it requires a good meat grinder. And if you plan to make a large amount of tea, then it is better to make granulated tea.

For storage, Koporye tea was placed in glass jars with metal lids. Separately dried flowers of fireweed were added to the jars.

To test the quality of tea, all 3 types of tea were brewed in glass cups. Place 1 teaspoon of Koporye tea in each cup and pour boiling water over it. After 10 minutes (Appendix 4), it was observed that the most aromatic and darkest black tea was the tea from the top leaves. Granulated tea was less dark, while loose leaf tea is more related to green tea and has a leafy smell.

We can conclude that the longer the fermentation takes place and the higher the drying temperature, the richer the tea turns out.

CONCLUSION

Studying the theoretical material, we determined that from collecting leaves to drinking Koporye tea there must be 7 stages: collecting leaves, withering them, processing, fermentation, drying and storing tea.

Based on the knowledge gained, it was decided to make 3 types of tea: the first - from the top leaves, the second - granulated, the third - leaf (large leaf).

Granulated tea is the least expensive in terms of time and the need to use physical force. But to make it you need a good meat grinder with large cells. When making granulated Koporye tea, the withering stage can be skipped, and the fermentation of raw materials passed through a meat grinder occurs much faster. Due to this, the amount of time needed to make tea is reduced.

On average, the total amount of time to produce a batch of Koporye tea is 3-4 days. The time depends on how quickly the raw material is fermented and on how the tea is dried. Our ancestors used to dry it in Russian ovens. Now special dryers have been invented in which the heating temperature is 50-55°C, which allows us to preserve everything useful (mucus, vitamin C, microelements) given to us by nature.

Thus, the goal and objectives of our work can be considered achieved. The hypothesis of our study was confirmed. Knowing the technology of preparing tea, making it is quite simple. The main thing is to have the desire and prepare the raw materials.

The next stage of our work will be the production of Koporye tea according to various recipes, which differ in the duration of each stage and the method of drying fermented raw materials, as well as their comparison.

Next summer we will continue to work on making Koporye tea, but with various additives: milk (oolong), oregano, leaves and fruits of strawberries, black currants, raspberries.

Our research has practical significance, because by making tea at home, you can be sure of the environmental purity of the raw materials and save your family budget. And if you increase production volumes, you can organize your own business.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL LIST

Verzilin N. In the footsteps of Robinson. – Leningrad, 1956. – 290 p.
Ivanov Yu. G. Encyclopedia of tea. – Smolensk: Rusits, 2001. – 642 p.
Kavina T.A. When there is no tea in the store. – St. Petersburg: Khimiya, 1993. – 48 p.
Konstantinov Yu. Yarrow, fireweed. Natural medicines. – M.: ZAO Publishing House Center – Polygraph, 2014. – 158 p.
Korsunov V. Russian Ivan-tea. In the world of plants, 2014, No. 7, 14-19.
Korsunov V.F., Viktorov V.K. Unique medicinal properties of weeds. – M.: Tsentropoligraf Publishing House, 2015. – 270 p.
Lavrenova G.V. Treatment with tea. – St. Petersburg: Publishing House “Neva”., 1999– 144 p.
Maidantsev G. A. Old Russian Ivan-tea. Collection, fermentation, drying, healing properties. – M.: Pero Publishing House, 2014. – 84 p.
Neumyvakin I. P. Ivan-tea. Myths and reality. – St. Petersburg: Dilya Publishing House, 2015. – 160 p.
Pastushenkov L.V., Pastushenkov A.L., Pastushenkov V.L. Medicinal plants: Uses in folk medicine and everyday life. – L.: Lenizdat, 1990. – 384 p.
Poskrebysheva G.I. Juices, kvass and vitamin teas. – M.: OLMA PRESS, 2000. – 32 p.
Stogova N. Tea against 100 diseases. – St. Petersburg: Peter, 2006. – 96 p.

Annex 1

Fireweed classification

Fireweed narrow-leaved		Found in northern regions of Europe, Asia and North America
Fireweed small-flowered	Found throughout the European part of Russia
Pink fireweed		It grows in the European part of Russia, but is quite rare
Willowweed marsh	Distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere, lives in swamps, along the banks of reservoirs, and in water meadows
Mountain fireweed		Found in Siberia, on the southeastern coast of Lake Baikal
Appendix 1 (continued) Fireweed classification
Fireweed broadleaf	Found in the Amur region, Kamchatka, Commander and Kuril Islands
Fireweed quadruple		In nature, it lives in the northern regions of Russia
Fireweed glandular-stemmed	Lives in damp places in northern Russia and the USA

Appendix 2

Recipes for making Koporye tea

Recipe 1. Detailed. (4, p.148).

Then the leaves are rolled between the palms of the hands into small spindle-shaped sausages until they darken from the released juice.

The twisted leaves are placed in a 5 cm layer in an enamel bowl or tray, covered with a warm cloth and placed in a warm place (24-27°C) for 6-12 hours to ripen. The higher the temperature, the faster the fermentation process occurs; the end of the process is characterized by a change in the herbaceous smell to a rich floral-fruity one. Too high a temperature and overexposure are dangerous - fireweed takes on the smell of low-grade, over-boiled tea.

The fermented leaves are finely chopped, spread on sieves or baking sheets covered with parchment in a layer of 1-1.5 cm and dried at a temperature of 100°C for about an hour, periodically checking readiness by touch. Well-dried tea has the color of black real tea, a rich and stronger aroma than its own; the tea leaves break when squeezed, but do not crumble into dust. When the bulk of the tea reaches this condition, the drying temperature is reduced, and the draft, moderate during the drying process, is sharply increased. If the temperature is too high and the tea is left in the dryer, an admixture of the smell of “dry paper” appears in the bouquet.

Ready-made Koporye tea requires tight packaging during storage - best in glass jars with plastic lids. Koporye tea reaches marketable condition after about a month of storage, and subsequently its properties, like those of real tea, improve even more. The dried flowers also make an excellent drink.

Recipe 2. (4, p. 149)

Mash the leaves in your hands, chop finely and place in a non-metallic container under pressure for 1-2 days at room temperature. It is necessary to reduce contact with air and metal to preserve vitamins.

After fermentation, the leaf is laid out in a cast-iron frying pan and “simmered” over very low heat for about 40 minutes. This heating to a hot state is necessary to accelerate fermentation, during which part of the insoluble, non-extractable substances of plant tissue are converted into soluble and easily digestible. These are the substances that give the taste, smell and color of tea.

After 40 minutes of simmering, turn on medium heat and, stirring constantly with a wooden spatula, bring the sheet to a dry state. The leaf should look like regular black loose leaf tea, but with a pleasant, unique aroma.

Recipe 3. (9, p.35)

Dry the collected leaves and flowers a little in the shade, away from direct sunlight. Then knead them, rub them in your palms and place them very tightly in a three-liter jar. Cover with a damp cloth and place in a dark place at room temperature (up to 20°C), leaving for 36 hours. It is believed that during this time the fermentation process should be completed. After the specified time, remove the mixture from the jar, loosen it, spread it on baking sheets, and dry at a temperature of 95-110°C in an electric or gas oven. During the drying process, the mixture must be periodically loosened or turned over in a dense layer. Gradually, the tea begins to acquire the desired color - from light brown to almost black. The drying time of loose tea depends on the moisture content of the herb at the time of collection and is determined visually. But the readiness of the tile is determined by the mass. The weight ratio of raw and dry tea should be 5:1.

The finished tea should be placed in glass or plastic jars with a tight-fitting lid and stored in a dry, dark place. Shelf life 3 years.

Recipe 4. (9, p.36)

On moistened linen fabric, the size of which depends on the amount of raw materials, the collected leaf of fireweed is laid out in a layer no more than 3 cm thick. Then they begin to wrap the fabric on one side in the form of a roll, twisting it as tightly as possible. The fabric must be moistened. This can be done from a regular spray bottle. If the fabric is not moistened, it will absorb some of the juice from the leaves. When the entire piece of fabric is rolled up, you still need to tighten it with a rope or a rubber band and knead it properly with your hands, bending and unbending the twist in different directions for 20-30 minutes. In this way, the cellular structure (vacuoles) of the leaves is destroyed, and all raw materials are saturated with juice. After kneading, the twist should be left alone for 2-3 hours for initial fermentation, and the temperature of the twist should be periodically checked with the palm of your hand. With noticeable heating (approximately 37-38°C), the initial fermentation ends. The twist is unrolled. The resulting mass has a delicate fruity smell, like fermented pear compote.

The mass is placed tightly in a glass jar or plastic bucket and closed to complete fermentation for 36-40 hours at room temperature.

If young plant tops, collected in May, are processed, then already during compaction in the container structural changes begin - when pressed, you can hear a characteristic crunching sound.

On the lid of the container it is better to mark the date and time of the bookmark and the date and time of the end of the process.

The tea will have a more refined taste if fermentation is carried out in a cool place and for a longer time.

If late-harvested raw materials (July-August) are processed, additional fermentation is required. To do this, the raw materials are removed from the container and carefully rubbed again with your hands until the juice comes out. This process can be facilitated by passing the mass through a meat grinder, having first removed the knives, but the medicinal properties and taste qualities with this processing method will be significantly lower.

When the mass is ground, it is collected in a pile and left at room temperature for 6-8 hours, covered with a damp cloth. When, when pressed, the mass begins to resemble soft rubber, it is sent to the oven, spread out on baking sheets. The drying temperature is 60-80°C, but the temperature must be increased before drying is completed. This “calcination” improves the taste, the tea will be fragrant and beautiful. During the drying process, the mass must be stirred periodically. You can place red bricks or facing ceramic tiles under the baking sheet - such a device creates the effect of a Russian oven in the oven, distributes the temperature, and the tea will dry evenly and not fry. Drying tea takes approximately 1.5-2 hours. You can get 300-400 g of finished product per day. The mixture, dried in tiles, must be wrapped in thick paper; such tea can be stored, as experts say, for decades. Loose tea is placed in jars with tight-fitting lids; the shelf life is 3 years.

Recipe 5. (9, p.38)

Divide all raw materials (plant tops and leaves) into 2 parts. Squeeze out the juice from one using a press juicer; there will be very little of it. Place the second part of the raw material in a metal-ceramic pan, pour the juice there. Press down the mass with a weight - a wooden circle on which a load of at least 20 kg is placed. For this purpose, you can use a two-pound weight, having previously wrapped it in polyethylene to prevent contact of the juice with the metal. Fermentation occurs within 72 hours, drying is carried out at a temperature of 90°C.

Recipe 6. (5, p. 16)

The dried leaves and flowers should be placed in a clay or enamel bowl and kneaded tightly to the very top. Cover the dish with a heavy lid, you can even turn it upside down, and put it in a heated oven or Russian oven for 5-6 hours. After this, remove the leaves from the bowl. They should have a brownish color and a peculiar smell. Place the raw materials on a table covered with a clean tablecloth or just a cloth. Roll the leaves between your palms in the form of tubes until the juice is released. Then cut the raw materials with a stainless steel knife and dry them in the oven or on a Russian stove at a temperature of 80-100°C for 2-3 hours.

Recipe 7. (3, p.21)

Fireweed leaves are laid out on paper or cloth for drying for a day. After this, they are placed in a wooden box, covered with a wet cloth on top and left for 9-12 hours, during which the process of fermentation occurs. After this, the leaves are again laid out in a thin layer and dried in a non-hot oven (with the door open or in the cooling oven mode, if there is a Russian oven) or in the attic, sunny, and in the evening and at night there is no rain. The leaves are then crushed and stored in the same way as tea.

Recipe 8. (3, p.22)

Leaves of fireweed are scattered in a layer no thicker than 5 cm and left in the shade for 8-10 hours or overnight to wither. Then they are twisted between the palms into small spindle-shaped sausages the size of a finger and rolled with pressure on a hard surface (board, kitchen table) until moisture appears. The twisted leaves are placed in a layer of 5-7 cm in an enamel bowl or basin, covered with a wet cloth and placed in a warm place (24-27°C) for 6-12 hours. During this time, the leaves should darken, their smell becomes rich, floral and fruity (however, care must be taken to prevent mold from appearing). The degree of fermentation determines the quality of the future tea; both underexposure and overexposure are harmful. The optimal mode is determined experimentally. The darkened sausages are finely cut across with a sharp knife, spread on parchment-lined baking sheets and dried for about an hour at 100°C, and then dried at 60-70°C, checking readiness by touch: when squeezed, the dry leaves should break, but not crumble into dust.

Appendix 3

Stages of preparing Koporye tea

2018-07-18

Date: 07/18/2018

Tags:

Summer has come into its own, and the edges of the forests are decorated with lilac thickets of Ivan-tea. They frame the clearings in orderly rows, their delicate inflorescences can be seen from afar. And the first collectors of this valuable plant flocked to the forests. Ivan tea began to gain popularity for a reason. There is a dominance of fakes in stores, and even for a lot of money it is difficult to buy real tea, without flavorings and “dust of Indian roads” - real Koporye tea.

Enterprising people prepare Ivan tea in large quantities, package it and sell it. Its average price is 2,000 rubles per kilogram. A bag of Ivan tea can be a good gift, for example, to a bouquet of flowers . Once upon a time, Rus' was so famous for Ivan tea that merchants paid for goods with it, like a jewel, and supplied it in large quantities abroad.

And this is not without reason: its beneficial properties, its high content of microelements and vitamins, have long been known and proven. Before the war, Ivan tea was prepared in Koporye, a place not far from Leningrad. Hence its second name - Koporsky.

Hitler was confident that it was Ivan tea that gave the Russians strength and endurance. Before attacking the Northern capital, he ordered this tea factory to be razed to the ground.

You can prepare it yourself and enjoy this aromatic, healthy drink all year round. To create a bouquet of aromas, you can add other herbs to Ivan tea, for example, dried rosehip flower petals.

And if you are lucky enough to become the owner of a bouquet of roses from the famous company Megaflowers http://megaflowers.ru , then after a week, when the flowers begin to fade, take them apart into petals and dry them. They will also add an extraordinary pink aroma to the tea, and will remind you of a beautiful floral gift throughout the year.

How to prepare Koporye tea

Plant collection. It is better to collect Ivan tea early in the morning, when the dew has disappeared, but the heat has not yet set in. Leaves and peduncles are harvested. You need to pick not one leaf at a time, but many leaves at once, grabbing them with your palm and stretching them from top to bottom, against growth. This way you can quickly collect a large number of leaves.
Withering. Sort out the collected leaves to remove insects and debris, spread them in a small layer to dry for several hours, not allowing them to dry out.
Fermentation. This is the most important process in preparing quality tea. Grind the dried leaves in a meat grinder or grind them with your hands, twisting each leaf. Leaves passed through a meat grinder will yield granulated tea after drying. And from those crushed by hand - large-leaf. Place the mixture in a bowl and cover with a damp cotton cloth. Keep the raw materials until a pleasant floral and berry smell appears. This takes 5-8 hours, depending on the amount of tea.
Drying. The tea should be dried at a temperature of 60-80 degrees in the oven or dryer, spread on baking paper.
Storage. Dried tea is well stored in glass jars or linen bags, where it gains real strength after 2-3 months. The shelf life of Koporye tea is 2 years.

Koporye tea should be consumed as a drink after the so-called fermentation. We will learn about this in more detail later, but for now about the benefits and harms of fermented fireweed tea.

The benefits are obvious due to the presence of a huge amount of vitamins, minerals and trace elements in this product.

The plant contains ascorbic acid six times more than lemon, vitamins A, B and PP, it contains potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, copper, selenium, iron, calcium, zinc, sodium. It can be successfully used as a general strengthening, tonic and healing agent.

Due to the presence of essential oils, the properties of the drink are preserved for three days. Let us dwell on the medicinal properties and contraindications of fermented fireweed tea.

Did you know? Ivan tea is considered a high-calorie product, containing about 100 calories per 100 g. Therefore, it is indispensable for travel, long-term hunting or fishing–strength is restored faster.

Medicinal properties

Thanks to its beneficial components, Koporye tea has been used for the treatment and prevention of a number of diseases since ancient times.

It has a proven anti-inflammatory and enveloping effect on diseases of the stomach and intestines. Tea helps with gastritis, stomach ulcers, duodenal ulcers and other similar ailments, and is effective for various types of poisoning.
Has a beneficial effect on the circulatory system. If you drink fireweed drink regularly, the so-called alkalization of the blood occurs, which is necessary to maintain its normal pH level. It promotes the formation of new blood cells and has the property of stopping bleeding.
Ivan tea can be used as a substitute for valerian for the prevention and treatment of various neuroses. It has a calming effect and helps with anxiety and depression.
For a long time, the drink has proven itself as a universal remedy for diseases and disorders of the genitourinary system. It normalizes potency, fights prostate adenoma and prevents it from developing into cancer. Has a therapeutic effect in kidney disease and cystitis.
It is used as an anti-inflammatory and antipyretic drug. There is an effect on diseases of the oral cavity and bleeding gums.
Ivan tea acts as an immunomodulator, works as a powerful antioxidant and body cleanser, normalizes blood pressure, relieves headaches, and has a general strengthening effect.

Did you know? In Rus', the first mention of Ivan tea as a healing drink dates back to the 12th century. Alexander Nevsky tried it and gave instructions to develop production in Koporye.

Contraindications

Since fireweed itself has a therapeutic effect, it does not need to be used in combination with other medications, especially antipyretics and sedatives. You need to use it in doses, not in buckets, and take breaks after a month of use.

Otherwise it will cause stomach upset. It is not recommended for children under six years of age; they should drink with caution if they have blood diseases.

What is fermentation and why is it done?

The fermentation process is used to prepare Koporye tea at home. Let's look at what the tea fermentation process is from a scientific point of view.

The basic idea is that the plant secretes juice, which reacts with air, leading to fermentation and oxidation, then it is dried.
After this treatment, fireweed retains all its beneficial properties and the drink acquires a fruity taste. If you simply dry the leaves, the brewed tea will be tasteless and useless.

Therefore, there is an answer to the question of what fermented tea is - it is a drink with a pleasant fruity taste that retains all the benefits of the plant.

Collection and procurement process

To obtain a healthy drink later, it is important to understand what fireweed looks like. In nature, the plant is as tall as a person, perennial, with pink and purple flowers.

Fireweed leaves are collected and prepared. The flowers are dried or fermented as an additive to a tea drink, and the roots are dried and ground into flour. Flatbreads are baked from this flour and added to dishes.

Koporye tea is collected during its flowering period, that is, throughout the summer. It is necessary to distinguish angustifolia fireweed from other species of this family. In swampy and damp places you may encounter marsh and small-flowered fireweed.
It is quite easy to distinguish them from fireweed - the height of others is no more than 20 cm.

Did you know?Collecting leaves does not harm the plant if done carefully and without damaging the stem. The plant is an excellent honey plant; honey production per hectare can reach 600 kg.

Collecting leaves

Leaf collection begins in June and ends in August. It’s good to find a corner away from the roads so that the product is environmentally friendly. You need to collect young leaves, starting from the inflorescence and going almost down.

The stem is strong enough that you can simply drag it from top to bottom with force. You need to leave several tiers of leaves near the inflorescence - they will help the plant to continue to grow well. It is advisable to collect the leaf in the morning, when the dew has already disappeared in dry, warm weather.

Opinions vary as to where it is best to do this. Some recommend open areas with plenty of sun, while others point to shaded areas and the edges of fields.
The latter claim that in such places the leaf is more tender and juicy.

Important!Fireweed leaves should be collected only until the flower becomes pubescent. It is difficult to remove fluff from leaves; they are tougher and have significantly fewer beneficial properties.

Withering of leaves

Withering is done in order to remove excess moisture from the leaves, which will interfere with fermentation. From this it is obvious that there is no need to wash the sheet before harvesting. Next, we place the leaves on the fabric in a ball no more than a few centimeters in height and leave to dry for about 12 hours.

The leaves should be stirred. The optimal air temperature for this process is up to 26°C with a relative humidity of about 70%. If the temperature is higher, the leaf will wilt faster. The leaf is dried most often in the house in a dark place, less often in the open air.

In the latter case, there may be only a light breeze and shade - strong wind and sun will dry the leaves rather than wither. The easiest way to check whether the leaves have wilted is to take a few and squeeze them in your fist.
If they are not ready, they will disintegrate; if they are ready, they will remain compressed. Then the leaf moisture content will be approximately 60%.

Important! If you dry out the leaf during the withering process, do not add water.–the raw materials are spoiled. You need to collect fresh ones and repeat everything again.

Preparing for fermentation

The leaves have wilted and the process of preparing it for fermentation can begin. It is necessary to destroy the structure of the leaf and extract juice from it, which contains enzymes responsible for the process itself. This will allow the beneficial substances to be released from the plant as completely as possible.

If there is not enough juice, fermentation will go poorly, and the tea will lose its taste and many useful properties. There are several ways to ferment fireweed at home; we will focus on the most used and proven ones.

Curling leaves

We take up to 10 leaves of the plant, put them together and roll them between our palms to form a “sausage”.
This is done with effort until the leaves become darker. This means that they have released juice.

Crushing leaves

Another recipe for making ivan tea at home is kneading. The raw materials are placed in a bowl, preferably enameled, and crushed like kneading dough.

After 15 minutes, the leaves secrete juice and darken, become thinner and somewhat curled. During the process, the leaves need to be separated and lumps avoided.

Twisting in a meat grinder

A common way to prepare Koporye tea at home is to grind the leaves in a meat grinder.

To do this, use a mesh with large holes; the meat grinder needs to cool briefly during the twisting process.

Fermentation

Fermentation technology is directly related to the methods of preparing leaf mass. The twisted leaves are placed in layers in a pan and a weight is placed on top.

All this should be covered with a cloth slightly moistened with water and left in a warm, but not hot place. The best fermentation temperature for fireweed tea is up to 26°C.

If the temperature is low, the processes stop; if it is high, some of the products that give the tea strength and taste do not dissolve; it will smell and taste like ordinary cheap tea.

In time, this process can last from 3 hours to 3 days. Longer fermentation means stronger tea. You can extend fermentation to a maximum of 12 days, but after 3-4 days you need to move the container to a cooler place and make sure that the mass does not become moldy.
There is a way to ferment rolled leaves in a three-liter jar.

You need to stuff it tightly with leaf sausages, cover with a plastic lid or damp cloth and leave to ferment in a warm place. Fermentation time is no more than 40 hours.

Crumpled leaves can also be fermented using a three-liter jar. Hiking technology – the leaves are laid very tightly and covered

and left in a warm place for a day. The aging time depends on the desire for further strength of the tea.

Crumpled leaves can still be fermented in another way. To do this, take a piece of cloth and wet it just a little. This way the canvas will not absorb the moisture from the leaves. Foliage is laid out on top, the canvas is rolled up and tied with rope.
The bundle must be crushed for approximately 20 minutes and left for preliminary fermentation for 3 hours. You need to check the temperature of the twist - if it is close to 37°C, the preliminary process is completed.

The best way to ferment fireweed at home, according to many, is from leaves processed in a meat grinder. It is the least labor-intensive and fastest in time.

The mixture is stirred, a container is placed (it is better to use enamel or metal ceramics), covered with a cloth slightly moistened with water and placed in a warm place for up to a day, usually from three to six hours.
Fermentation of fireweed at home is complete when the leaf color changes from green to green-brown, and the smell from herbaceous to bright fruity-floral.

Drying

The final stage of fermenting fireweed at home is proper drying of the leaf or twisted mass. If twisted “sausages” or crumpled leaves are cut before drying, small-leaf tea will come out.

Nowadays, more and more people are becoming aware of the benefits of fireweed. And this gave impetus to the independent preparation of this medicinal plant, and even the founding of industries where Koporye tea is fermented and dried. At the same time, there are several technologies for making fireweed tea, but many of them contain errors, inaccuracies and errors.

The most common omissions and blunders in the technologies for making fireweed tea are:

Underestimation of the fermentation process. This is the most unforgivable mistake, since it is this that is key in the production of Koporye tea. Other steps are obviously important, but fermentation is the one that deserves the most attention. The process is often underestimated due to misunderstanding of what it involves. But its basis is the biochemical processing of plants under the influence of microorganisms and enzymes.
Labor-intensive manual work. Many technologies include processing such as manually kneading each leaf - which requires both effort and time. And even grinding through a meat grinder cannot be called the least labor-intensive job. There should be no emphasis on such processing, because it is more correct not to replace the work of enzymes and microorganisms with human labor, but to create conditions so that microorganisms and enzymes can act on raw materials as efficiently as possible. And for this you do not need grinding, but just put the leaves under a press in a warm place and limit the access of oxygen to them.
Drying in the oven at temperatures above +90 degrees. This leads to the breakdown of valuable compounds within the plant material. The resulting tea will be deprived of many microelements that could have a strong healing effect. In this case, drying is an important step, since it is designed to stop the fermentation process. The best option is to place the raw materials in a Russian oven, melt it and let it cool to the desired temperature (+85 degrees).

It is necessary to understand that without fermentation and careful drying, the resulting fireweed tea is devoid of many beneficial properties.

The easiest way to make Koporye tea

Taking into account the described errors, we can describe the technology for preparing fireweed tea, which will be at the same time simple, less labor-intensive and effective:

Procurement of raw materials. It is optimal to collect leaves twice - at the beginning of flowering (young leaves are collected) and in August.
Preparing for fermentation. Plants need to be sorted out, insects, snails, and damaged leaves removed. The leaves should be placed in an enamel bucket and crushed with a wooden “masher” (a kitchen tool for making mashed potatoes), without spending a lot of time and effort. Next, cover the raw material with a damp towel (preferably linen) and press it down with something heavy, for example, a 16-kilogram weight.
Fermentation. The bucket of leaves under pressure should be kept in a warm place for 3-5 days. The duration depends on many factors, primarily on the ambient temperature. The end of the fermentation process can be determined by the appearance of a characteristic spicy smell and a change in color (the leaves turn from green to a pale coffee shade).
Drying. Placing plant materials in an oven will be the best option, but if it is not possible to dry fireweed in an oven, then use a fruit dryer. In such household devices, the temperature range is +60+70 degrees. The raw materials need to dry for about 12 hours. You can also dry it in an oven preheated to 70 degrees with the door ajar.

As a result, you will receive fermented tea that will have an exquisite aroma and wonderful taste.

Technology for preparing Ivan tea at home. Recipe for making Koporye Tea (Ivan-Chaya). Healthy drink - Ivan-Chai