Wintergreen Leaves

Wintergreen Leaves come from Gaultheria procumbens, a low-growing evergreen shrub native to North America. The dried leaf is deep green and leathery, and it smells bold, minty and slightly sweet with a cooling finish, close to old-fashioned teaberry candy or root beer rather than the grassy coolness of peppermint.

The plant carries bright red berries alongside its glossy green leaves, and the leaf has long been used in Indigenous and folk traditions across its native range.

Dried, the leaves are small, oval and leathery, with a crisp, sweet-minty fragrance that opens up as soon as they meet hot water. Also called teaberry, checkerberry or mountain tea, wintergreen blends easily with other mint-family herbs and with dried fruit in homemade infusions.

How to use it

Steep the leaves for a refreshing, mint-like beverage, or use them as a flavouring in confections, syrups and specialty drinks. They also go into sachets, potpourri and botanical extracts for their crisp, uplifting scent, and turn up in essential oils and herbal salves. Technique tip: steep them covered, because the aromatic compound that gives wintergreen its snap is volatile and escapes with the steam.

Brewing guide

Steep a few leaves, covered, in just-boiled water, then strain before serving, and sweeten with honey or a little maple syrup if you like a rounder, candy-like cup.

Details

Also known as

English: Wintergreen, Mountain Tea, Teaberry; French: Gaulthérie Couchée, Thé des Bois; German: Wintergrün, Waldteekraut; Spanish: Gaulteria, Té de Montaña; Other: Ground Berry, Boxberry, Deerberry, Wax Cluster, Checkerberry, Canada Tea, Partridge Berry