Inuit herbal tea - Wooden discovery box

The five Délice boréal herbal teas packed in a wooden box: take off the lid and pick your infusion to suit your mood. The box holds 7 tea bags of each blend, enough to taste the whole line.

The Délice boréal line grew out of the work of the Avataq Cultural Institute, an Inuit organization in Nunavik founded in 1980, which documented traditional herbal knowledge with the Elders before turning it into a line of herbal teas in the early 2000s. The northern plants in the blends, such as Labrador tea and black crowberry, are picked and dried by hand by residents of Nunavik communities, in Nord-du-Québec.

Format: wooden box with lid holding 35 tea bags, 1.5 g each (52.5 g in total). The filters are made of paper with more than 99% plant fibres, with no plastic or glue.

What's inside: 7 tea bags of each of the five blends, with their ingredients below.

• Labrador tea (Mamaittuqutik): bearberry leaves (uva-ursi), peppermint leaves, Labrador tea leaves (Mamaittuqutik), licorice root, eucalyptus leaves, bitter fennel seeds, coltsfoot leaves, ginger root.
• Cloudberry (Arpiqutik): sarsaparilla root, fenugreek seeds, carob, cloudberry leaves, roasted chicory root, cinnamon bark, roasted maté leaves.
• Ground juniper (Qisiqtutauyak): purple echinacea herb, red clover flowers, juniper berries, ground juniper (Qisiqtutauyak), burdock root, lemongrass herb, lemon balm herb, spearmint leaves.
• Black crowberry (Paurngaqutik): hibiscus flowers, lemongrass herb, birch leaves, black crowberry leaves, natural flavours, juniper berries, citric acid, cinnamon bark, poppy flowers, star anise fruit, licorice root, cloves.
• Arctic Blend (Ukiurtatuq): Arctic blend (Ukiurtatuq), purple echinacea herb, marshmallow root, peppermint leaves, elderflowers, chamomile flowers, cinnamon bark, ginger root, cloves, coltsfoot leaves.

Allergens: according to the maker, all its herbal teas are free of tree nuts, peanuts, sesame, wheat, triticale, gluten, eggs, dairy, soy, fish, crustaceans, molluscs, mustard, celery, lupin, sulphites, tartrazine and monosodium glutamate.

Serving suggestion: steep one tea bag in a cup of hot water for a few minutes, depending on the strength you like.

Precautions: the Labrador tea blend and the Arctic Blend contain Labrador tea, which the maker describes as a stimulant. The Cloudberry blend contains roasted maté leaves, which have stimulant properties similar to those of caffeine, according to the maker. The Ground juniper and Black crowberry blends contain no stimulants.

Origin: northern plants picked, cleaned and dried by hand in Nunavik communities, in Nord-du-Québec, then blended in Montréal with other herbs and spices.