Calendula: A Golden Guide to Herbal Smoking & Middle Eastern Traditions

Calendula is the brightest thing in any blend it's part of, and one of the few flowers here with a long life outside the smoking world entirely.

What it is

Calendula officinalis, also called pot marigold, with those unmistakable vivid orange blooms. It grows easily, flowers for months, and has spread across most of the world from a Mediterranean origin.

A flower with several jobs

In Middle Eastern cultures, herbs sit at the center of spiritual and religious practice as much as domestic life. Calendula, with its sun-like blossoms, carries an association with divine or spiritual light. Petals were used to adorn sacred spaces and in ceremony, and that use persists today in personal rituals meant to bring warmth and light into a space.

There's a dyeing tradition too. Those golden hues color fabric, cosmetics and food, often for celebrations. It's a plant that has been doing several things at once for a very long time.

Taste and smoke

Gentle and floral on the nose, exactly like a marigold bouquet. The taste is mildly spicy with a slight bitterness underneath, which is more interesting than most flowers manage. It's the bitterness that keeps it from being one-note.

What to pair it with

Gotu kola grounds it. Lemon balm brightens it. Both combinations are in Solar, which is where calendula lives in our range.

In our blends

Calendula is in Solar, with coltsfoot, gotu kola, lemon balm, mullein, oat straw and tulsi. Also as a loose blend.

Tea Tokes blends are tobacco-free and nicotine-free. 21+.