But even when I teach about teas, tisanes, infusions, decoctions of leaves, roots, bark, flowers, and seeds people tend to call it all tea no matter the plant, no matter the process. It is a losing battle, I know.

Now, if you look up teabagging on wikipedia… Rachel Maddow is included in the listing. Politics can be very funny.

“Tea” is the colloquial name for a wide variety of brewed hot beverages that are not coffee; if you want to call it herbal tea, you call it herbal tea, not by the french name. (Or you call it Krautertee which you can buy by that name at TeaHaus).

Oh, wait, I haven’t donated to the tip jar in a month or two. Off to do that now.

If you use herbs, it is a Tisane.

And many of us have been laughing about this reference to teabagging — for other reasons – for weeks. Even us herbalists.

link to definition

not safe for work, you are warned.

The Grey Lady reports

“Rain-streaked tea bags hung from the umbrellas and eyeglasses of protesters as Tea Party Day got off to a soggy start along the East Coast on Wednesday. ”

The original protest, of course, used loose tea link to Boston Tea Party

and if you were going to be all ann-arbor about it you’d scatter locally harvested mint or catnip tea into the air.

I wonder what it is you find profane about the entry?

My biggest concern about the protests is their seeming lack of focus; they also seem a bit late, don’t you think?

Apparently folks were handing out tea bags (referencing the Boston Tea Party) as part of a tax protest at some locations.