Yerba Santa has some of the most interesting flavors of any herb we have used. It tastes at once of dried mint, licorice, and black and green tea, ebbing between bitter and sweet, bright and dark. The plant itself is a scrubby bush, with serrated long leaves. It has long been revered, used as medicine by native populations and later named yerba santa, or “sainted herb,” by the Spanish because it was believed to be a panacea. It was incorporated into medicinal practices throughout the 1800s because of its ability to mask the bitterness of other medicines. In fact, we took inspiration for our Chaparral from a recipe for an elixir of yerba santa published in the Western Druggist in 1892. We love the lore behind yerba santa, but mostly we love being able to showcase the incredible flavors of this native herb in a distinctly Californian amaro.
