Ortea has its roots in the Viennese forests where a huge bush of nettles attracted our attention and made us realize that there is more to this unpopular plant. Soon, nettle tea became an all-time favorite in our tea repertoire. Paired with the love for iced tea, the idea of Ortea was born.
Out of persuasion, it was clear from the start that the product’s identity must be built upon a sustainable framework. Hence why we use carefully selected organic ingredients, keep the supply chain short and brew Ortea ourselves in Luxembourg.
The nettle is to Ortea what the third wheel is to the tricycle. The nettle is commonly known as an itchy contemporary from the woods and meadows, but some might be surprised by the nettle’s qualities. Hand in hand with a bunch of other domestic plants, they form a herbal symphony and the basis for Ortea.
Winnie the Pooh already knew about the great feeling of honey in his tummy. Not only the fuzzy bear loves the tasteful nectar, but we do too. With its floral and fruity aromas, it serves perfectly to sweeten things up.
"An apple a day keeps the doctor away", they say. Is it true or is it not, we don’t know. What we do know is that the apple is the most common fruit in Luxembourg. That’s why it goes without saying that unfiltered apple juice is our first choice for Ortea.
“One doesn't need many friends to be happy. They just have to be the right ones.” – someone very wise
Boskoop, Reinette and Rambour are only some of the kinds of apple growing in the orchards surrounding the Ferme du Klingelbour. From those apples they produce an organic apple juice which comes up to our taste and that’s why it found its way into Ortea.
The organic honey didn’t travel far either. We purchase it from Joe Molitor, the beekeeper from Nouspelt. With passion and longtime experience, he stands behind his quality products and his uncountable diligent bees.
Our herbs come from the Austrian company Sonnentor, which produces their herbs in close contact with farmers from the surrounding villages. We chose them because they set great value on transparency and respect to nature too. We have a clear preference for local products, but it turned out to be difficult to find a Luxembourgish producer who has the European organic label. Even though we hope to find a more local producer in the future, we currently opted for our sunny Austrian friends.