Journal
The herb library
Monographs on the plants we sell — what they are, where they grow, how they taste — and the kitchen notes that make them worth keeping in the cupboard. Written from the packing bench, not from a content calendar.
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Osmanthus: The Flower That Smells Like Apricots in the Middle of Autumn
Four varieties, one fragrance, and a very short season. How to tell Jin Gui from Yin Gui from…
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Red Dates: The Sweetener That Isn’t Sugar
A red date is not a date. It is a jujube — a buckthorn fruit the size of…
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Magnolia Bud: The Flower That Went Into a Patent
Xin Yi Hua has been used for blocked noses for two thousand years, and it is one of…
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Storing Dried Herbs So They Still Taste of Something
Most herbs do not go off — they go quiet. Four conditions decide how fast, and the fridge…
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Lily Flowers: A Delicate Bloom, and a Different Ingredient Entirely
Dried lily flowers are a pretty, mild infusion. The Chinese pharmacy item called Bai He is not the…
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Rehmannia: Raw and Prepared Are Two Different Herbs
One is pale, bitter and cooling; the other is black, sticky and sweet. They come from the same…
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Lotus: The Flower, the Seed, and the Root Are Three Different Herbs
A lotus petal makes a pale, faintly sweet, cooling cup. The seed makes a nutty one, and the…
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Hawthorn: Sour, and Better For It
Nobody eats hawthorn for its sweetness. It is the fruit you reach for when a dish is too…
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Plum Blossom: The Winter Flower That Became Tea
Plum blossoms open in the cold, on bare branches, weeks before anything else. What the dried bud tastes…
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Honeysuckle: Picking the Right Moment
A honeysuckle bud and a honeysuckle flower are two different things in the cup — one is sweet…
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Snow Chrysanthemum: The Red-Gold Flower That Is Not a Chrysanthemum
It is called chrysanthemum, it is not a chrysanthemum, and it brews a deep copper cup that tastes…
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How to Read a Dried Herb Label
Latin name, part used, harvest date, origin, grade. Five lines that separate a herb you can cook with…
One email a month, sent the day we pack.
What came in, what is running low, and one way to actually use it. No discount codes shouting at you.