Hops are very deeply connected to relaxation and sleep. Additionally, many witches find in hops powers of healing and peace. Some connect hops flowers to faeries, the god Odin, the season or sabbat of Midsummer, the element of Air, the planet Mars, and the signs of Aries and Aquarius.
Hops grow as either a male plant or a female plant, and only the female plants are used in commercial production as they are more flavourful. Hops flowers are not only as a bittering agent in beer but also to reduce unwanted bacteria in the brew, and they've been used as such since at least the 9th century!
Hops flowers are commonly used for anxiety, insomnia, and restlessness. Jess once made an herbal tea with hops flowers as a Christmas present for her mother-in-law, who definitely suffered from restlessness. It is generally considered anodyne, diuretic, nervine, sedative, soporific, stomachic, and tonic. There is also an old folk remedy of filling a pillow with hops flowers and sleeping with it as a sleep-aid. Hops do lose medicinal potency over time, however, especially when exposed to light. Some people may be allergic to hops, and hops are toxic to dogs!
This particular batch of hops was given to us by a local brewery and air-dried by us, but that was a one-time deal. Future hops flowers will likely be supplied by one of our herbal suppliers. We currently only have 5g bags available due to limited supply and how very lightweight hops are.
Our herbs are not packaged in a commercial kitchen, and, as such, are not fit for human consumption in accordance with Health Canada regulations. We provide information about food and health benefits for educational purposes only. Our herbs are not to be consumed and are sold for religious, spiritual, and curio purposes. Our herbs are stocked at our booth at the 400 Market in Innisfil, Ontario, which is only open on weekends, which may delay fulfillment of online orders. When ordering online, your hops package will be intuitively chosen for you. All our prices are inclusive of sales tax within Canada, when applicable.
