Speak French Refill
Organic Verbena
Pure lemon verbena
€4.95*
% €10.95* (54.79% saved)Caffeine: | no |
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Certificates: | DIN EN 15662 Multi-method for the determination of pesticide residues, EU-Biosiegel DE-ÖKO-003 Non-EU-Agriculture |
Flavor: | fresh, lemony |
"I learned to love it in France: to this day, the aromatic, fragrant lemon verbena in Speak French is my favorite after-dinner digestif."
The history of Speak French
Even in her school days, samova founder Esin was always drawn to Paris during the vacations to work as an intern in the media. Alone among French people who spoke neither English nor German well, she was forced to learn French very quickly: "Speak French!" Soon the spell was broken and she made good local friends who introduced her to the culinary customs of France. This was when Esin first learned about "Infusion à la Verveine," a tasty herbal tea made from whole leaves of lemon verbena. She was able to order it after sumptuous dinners in one of the typical restaurants or during nighttime excursions through the Seine metropolis in every bar - as a caffeine-free alternative to the "café". The "Verveine" quickly became one of her favorite drinks.
During her pregnancy with her first son Can, Esin remembered the tasty herb from France: lemon verbena not only smells and tastes lemony and light, but is also perfect for "topping up" the water balance, as it does not extract water from the body. So you can drink it by the liter and do yourself some good. Plus, the brewed whole leaves look beautiful in a glass pitcher. How made for a young mother who wants to enjoy healthy food and surround themselves with aesthetic things!
Two years later, of course, this herbal tea was also one of the ten founding varieties presented at the first samova Tanztee.
To this day, the name is a reminder of Esin's fresh start in the media world:
Speak French!
Lemon verbena - a French classic
Another schnapps or espresso after dinner? If you don't want that, you'll usually be served a "verveine" in France - a herbal tea made from a plant that hasn't really gained a foothold in gastronomy in this country yet. In any case, only a few restaurants in Germany have lemon verbena on the menu as a tasty digestif. Yet this is precisely the strength of the gentle herb: It soothes the stomach after a heavy meal, helps digestion - and does not wake you up or get you drunk. Do not confuse lemon verbena (Aloysia Citrodora) with its distant cousin , the "normal" verbena (Verbena Officinales), also called verbena in Germany. Despite the botanical relationship, verbena has quite different (taste) properties and ingredients. In the case of lemon verbena, the name itself shows the direction in which the aromas swing: the high content of refreshing essential oils such as citral or limonene in the leaves is reminiscent of the aroma of citrus fruits. At the same time, the sour taste components that emanate from infused orange peel, for example, are missing: Lemon verbena therefore tastes refreshingly mild - a rare combination.These properties immediately convinced the Spanish in the 18th century, who were the first to introduce the exotic plant from South America. While the common verbena had been known in Europe since ancient times, lemon verbena originally grew only in subtropical regions of the New World - in areas that today extend across Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Peru and Bolivia. It is sensitive to frost, which is why the Spanish initially planted it only in greenhouses - at least in Madrid, where it can get very cold in winter. However, the plant initially came into fashion not as an infusion of herbs, but as a fragrant ingredient in bouquets, and later also as a perfume.
The French eventually discovered that, like so many other herbs, it was not only wonderful to brew, but also quite excellent to grow - at least in Provence and the warm south of the country. And so lemon verbena gradually migrated from southern French fields to beverage menus throughout France. And finally, as "Speak French," also on many a beverage menu of our samova partners from the hotel and gastronomy industry.
The suite of friendship
In 2016, samova was given the opportunity to design a hotel suite in the then brand new Beach Motel Heiligenhafen. Together with interior designer Friederike Kegel and sustainable interior designer Katharina von der Heyde, samova founder Esin Rager set to work. The result, the "samova Istanbul Nights Suite", is still one of the most popular suites of the successful Heimathafen Hotel Group.
Word of their success spread: At the beginning of 2018, owner and hotelier Jan Bolland asked samova about his new building project "Papa Rhein". After the first brainstorming session with Esin, Friederike and Katharina, he liked the spirit of the creative trio of women. Jan decided without further ado to have the three of them design a suite for his new hotel - with a view of the Rhine and the Niederwald Monument, a "contemporary witness" of the demonstration of warlike power after the victory against France. Esin immediately had the idea for a peaceful "counterattack": the Speak French Suite as a sign of friendship with France! The cosmopolitan concept thus revolves not only around the samova organic herb of the same name made from lemon verbena, but at the same time also around a piece of Bingen or Rhine history.