337 MAGAZINE Blackbird Botanica

Brave's Brew, Indeed

Bringing a Longtime Creole Sickness Remedy to a New Generation

By Abby Meaux Conques

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CAMERON THEYARD

“It is in the roots, not the branches, that a tree’s greatest strength lies.”

Matshona Dhliwayo Life has a funny way of coming full circle. Rayvin Silas-Chevalier is an example of that.

The origin story behind her business, Blackbird Botanica, stems from a belief in a tea that helped her recover after suffering a month-long sickness last year.

In January 2020, Rayvin and her family faced a cold/flu type sickness that behaved a bit differently from other sicknesses her family had experienced. Even after her family recovered from the illness in the household, Rayvin experienced breathing difficulties, resulting in two ER visits and breathing treatments. After being sick for nearly 30 days, Rayvin’s mother-in-law boiled a special tea for her. Rayvin tried it and felt notable improvements the very next day, completely recovering in three days.

What was the tea?

A traditional Creole remedy for fevers, chills, congestion, and other cold or pneumonia-type symptoms, Manglier (pronounced MONG-LEE-AY) Tea.

Native Americans were the ones who discovered the amazing medicinal properties of this plant in the 19th century. Creole and Cajun communities are known to have utilized it before the days of prescription drugs and antibiotics. The active ingredient in the tea is Baccharis Oxide: a powerful triterpenoid (highly multifunctional compound) with notable antiviral capabilities which have been described as having anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and antitumoral properties.

Rayvin was intrigued by the healing tea. As a certified ICTC Full Circle Doula familiar with naturopathic methods, she’s had her share of various teas. She had a penchant for breast milk tea which aids in the production of plentiful amounts of milk that she used the 4 years she breastfed her two children. She enjoyed perfecting recipes at home for various beneficial teas.

When she spoke with people she knew about the healing tea, family members began recounting their personal experiences with it. “My Godmother told me a story she was reminded of when she was a little girl in 1961. Back then, Charity Hospital was the main hospital in Lafayette. As a person of color, she had to wait 24 hours before being seen by a doctor. She remem-

bered being given Manglier tea to drink and that she felt better the next day and didn’t have to see the doctor at all,” Rayvin explained.

Her family told her stories of her Great Great Grandmother who was a traiteur (a Native Creole healer) and a midwife that used to make the tea for those in need. Rayvin mentioned that she wants to keep the sacred aspect of the brewing of the tea that her Great Great Grandmother had. “It’s really about doing it with love,” she said. “In the end what I want is for people to be able to use the tea that I brew with such care when they are feeling ill, and to pass it around to family and loved ones, taking care of each other is what it’s about.” It’s all part of the circle. The similarities between her Great Great Grandmother’s path and hers are striking.

After learning her ancestral connection with the tea, Rayvin knew this is what she was called to do. She took her experience concocting various teas and perfected her own Manglier Tea recipe. She posted her tea on social media and before long, family and friends were asking for orders to be filled for the ready-made tea which pleasantly cut the bitterness of it and saved them the steps of acquiring the plant and boiling the leaves themselves.

In just half a year’s time, Rayvin went from perfecting her recipe to having her branded Creole traditional tea on store shelves in Acadiana and being shipped all over the US from her website. Her branded Brave’s Brewed Manglier Tea consists of her own crafted version of her family’s secret recipes including beneficial ingredients such as turmeric, ginger, garlic, cayenne, raw honey, lemons and oranges. Brave’s Brew creates a gorgeous flavor, much different and pleasantly surprising to those who have previously tasted the hard-to-drink bitter tea before Rayvin adds her magic. Her finished Brave’s Brew product needs no attention; you purchase it ready to be shaken up and enjoyed.

Rayvin’s now living her calling as Master Brewer and Founder of the healing Manglier tea that helped her in her time of need, which her ancestors made with sacred attention to care for the community around them; full circle and deeply-rooted, indeed.

You can enjoy the ready-to-heat Creole healing elixir tea by ordering it from her website at www.Blackbird-botanica.com. It can also be found in area stores like Best Stop Supermarket in Scott, Rayne Medicine Shoppe in Rayne, and Lafayette locations Black Café, Drug Emporium, Fresh Pickin’s Produce, Kirk’s U Needa Butcher, Medicine Bin Pharmacy and Truman Neighborhood Grocery. *Blackbird Botanica products can be purchased with Supplemental Food Assistance.