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Rhodiola tea in the making

Rhodiola rosea tea is my morning cuppa’ jo, and has been for several years now.  It’s an amazing drink for starting the day with positive energy and focus.  The taste is unique, pleasant and mild.  Like most root teas, it is important not to let it boil.  Also, a steep time of 5-10 minutes is essential to extract the root’s bioactive compounds.  Start the root brewing before your other activities in the kitchen and your tea will be ready when you sit down for breakfast.

How does ARRGO process the roots for tea?  The tea is made from pure Canadian-grown Rhodiola rosea and nothing else.  After we have washed, chipped and dried the Rhodiola, it’s necessary to ensure that potentially harmful bacteria are removed.  The Rhodiola chips are given a 15-minute exposure to low-pressure steam.  The attached pictures show the Rhodiola chips coming out of the steam kettle onto pans for a quick period of drying prior to milling to our customer’s spec’s. 

In the steam kettle room the floral smell is powerful, and one could imagine that inhaling the heady aroma should be beneficial in itself.  Back to reality, though.  What’s most important – this form of steam pasteurization is not harmful to the beneficial compounds in Rhodiola rosea.  Testing of the bioactives (rosavins and salidroside) indicates very little change after pasteurization.  Sometimes the steam process will even create a conversion of the cinnamyl alcohol back into rosavins. 

Here’s the best part – the benefits of Rhodiola rosea are extracted into the hot water in your teacup.  Testing has shown that a heaping teaspoon of coarse milled tea, or even less for finer milled material, will provide the same benefits as the average daily Rhodiola rosea supplement. 

Back at the breakfast table and savouring my tea.  Bring on the day!

Organic Rhodiola tea comp