(02-08-2014, 02:58 PM)AlexisM Wrote: I think the processing involves drying the leaves and putting them in a package. Some poor saps here (include me) were misled by the labeling. We ought to call this stuff tea (Camellia sinensis) or white tea. It is not white peony root. I have some thoughts on spearmint which I'll take up when time permits.
Maybe the buyer forgets that we have this thing called the law to help protect us "the Poor consumer" or "sap" (me) that was enacted in 1938 called the Cosmetic Act. The provisions of the U.S. Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act help ensure a tea’s origin and authenticity. A tea marked “Assam,” for instance, must be 100 percent Assam tea. Teas may be marked “Assam blend” or “Assam type” if at least 51 percent of the tea comes from Assam.
Anyways in a perfect world right?, here's method for brewing peony:
Preparation Methods & Dosage

eony root can be taken as a tea, extract or in capsules. Peony Root decoction Use 1 ounce of dried root to 1 pint boiled water to make a simple decoction of peony root. Peony is almost always used in combination with other herbs in Chinese formulations.
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Oh I almost forgot this: TOO FUNNY......
Legend has it that the tea tree was turned from peony trees. In the Western Han Dynasty, there was a prefecture chief called Mao Yi. He was an upright and honest official. Disgusted with the corrupt officialdom, he quit his job and lived in reclusion with his mother in remote mountains. Due to old age and fatigue, his mother fell ill. Mao was so worried that he looked for medicine everywhere. One night, when he was asleep, he dreamed that a grey-headed immortal appeared before him and told him that his mother’s illness could only be cured by a carp boiled with new tea. It was severe winter. Mao broke the ice on the lake, jumped into it, and caught a carp. But how could he find new tea in winter? He became upset. Suddenly, 18 peonies in front of him turned into tea trees, with buds coming out like white peonies. So he picked the buds, and cooked it with the carp. His mother, just as expected, became healthy again. Thereafter, the tea produced here has been called white peony tea.