pine tea

D

dnhald

Joined
Oct 11, 2010
Messages
128
i always see photos of what seams like it would be very tasty pine tea brewing in everybody's canteen cups. whats the low down? how is it made? can i use any variation of pine/ evergreen tree? is it very strong? i have no knoldge about anything of the sort. i have made rose tea, but thats it.


thanks
 
It's warm and wet on a cold day but it ain't no Earl Grey that's for sure !

If the Season permits I like to add some berries or Licorice root to flavour it up a little,

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By pitdog2010 at 2010-12-09

It also varies in taste according to which needles you use, spruce, fir etc. Yesterday I used Balsam fir and it was quite a mild taste !

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By pitdog2010 at 2010-12-08
 
well thanks for the flavoring tips lol i have never seen any longer pine needles witch all the species are around my stomping grounds. are those ok too?
 
I too have been wondering about Pine Tea and others. Made Yarrow root tea on a scout campout back in 1994 that was pretty good.

Around here we have mostly Colorado Blue Spruce and Ponderosa Pine, with Juniper in the lower elivations. How long do you boil the needles, how many? Do you like using the Juniper Berries too?
 
In the spring I love to make woodsman tea. You need to tap a birch tree for the running sap and then throw some pine needles in and boil it it up.

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I think my hatred for southern pines has prejudiced me against thinking that pine tea could taste good. One of these days I'll suck it up and give it a shot.
 
Most books will tell you White Pine is the only way to go, but I've tried it successfully with Aleppo pine. Thats about the only pine we have here.

Tasted pretty good, but most things do in the out doors.
 
In New Zealand we have a tree called manuka. It makes quite a nice hot drink (and is also nice mixed in with tea leaves).
 
I've never tried pine tea. I considered it exclusively as a vitamin C source in the outdoors, not as a tea of choice. I may have to try it after all.
 
I have made tea with the inner bark of birch trees. I can be very strong depending on how much bark you use.
 
Lots of Hemlock around me so that's what I use. I usually boil for around six minutes and run it through a small #2 coffee cone filter.
Tastes pretty good:)
 
I recently made some pine tee with a few black berry leaves and a chunk of sassafras root. It was delicious.
 
Don't boil pine tea!
The main benefit of pine tea is the vitamin C, which is destroyed around 200deg F.
To make pine tea, bring your water to a boil and then take it off the heat. Wait until the boil has stopped but while the water is still scalding hot and put in the needles. At this point, while the water is above 180deg but below 200deg, the outer carbohydrate strings are dissolved allowing the needles nutrients to be released into the water without the temperature being high enough to reduce the nutritional benefits of the tea.
Pine tea isn't the best tasting thing out there but there are some things that can be done to help. Pine needles contain tannins, that's right I said tannins. If you have even burned pine tea, reaching 215f or higher, you will notice a dry aftertaste similar to cheap red wines. If you get that aftertaste, all nutritional value of the tea has been destroyed. There are no usable sugars in the needles, at least not that will be released into the tea. That means the tea's flavor will benefit from a sweetener. Anything from table sugar and honey (more modern) to birch sap and berries (field expedient but still yummy imo).
 
My references on edible plants indicate that pine/spruce tea should not be taken by women who are (or might be) pregnant; it might induce uterine contractions and result in miscarriage.

From "Plants of the Boreal Forest and Western Parkland": "Always use evergreen teas in moderation. When the tips of young branches are eaten by starving caribou cows, it causes abortion of their calves"

Might be important info for some members here or for those we hike with.
 
Md 25v said:
Don't boil pine tea!
The main benefit of pine tea is the vitamin C, which is destroyed around 200deg F.
To make pine tea, bring your water to a boil and then take it off the heat. Wait until the boil has stopped but while the water is still scalding hot and put in the needles. At this point, while the water is above 180deg but below 200deg, the outer carbohydrate strings are dissolved allowing the needles nutrients to be released into the water without the temperature being high enough to reduce the nutritional benefits of the tea.
Pine tea isn't the best tasting thing out there but there are some things that can be done to help. Pine needles contain tannins, that's right I said tannins. If you have even burned pine tea, reaching 215f or higher, you will notice a dry aftertaste similar to cheap red wines. If you get that aftertaste, all nutritional value of the tea has been destroyed. There are no usable sugars in the needles, at least not that will be released into the tea. That means the tea's flavor will benefit from a sweetener. Anything from table sugar and honey (more modern) to birch sap and berries (field expedient but still yummy imo).
Click to expand...

Very informative :thumbup: :D thanks
 
wildmanh said:
I too have been wondering about Pine Tea and others. Made Yarrow root tea on a scout campout back in 1994 that was pretty good.

Around here we have mostly Colorado Blue Spruce and Ponderosa Pine, with Juniper in the lower elivations. How long do you boil the needles, how many? Do you like using the Juniper Berries too?
Click to expand...

we have a lot of the same in az and within the next 4 weeks will be in the bush a lot i will try all the combos possible. but arnt juniper berries posinous?

Md 25v said:
Don't boil pine tea!
The main benefit of pine tea is the vitamin C, which is destroyed around 200deg F.
To make pine tea, bring your water to a boil and then take it off the heat. Wait until the boil has stopped but while the water is still scalding hot and put in the needles. At this point, while the water is above 180deg but below 200deg, the outer carbohydrate strings are dissolved allowing the needles nutrients to be released into the water without the temperature being high enough to reduce the nutritional benefits of the tea.
Pine tea isn't the best tasting thing out there but there are some things that can be done to help. Pine needles contain tannins, that's right I said tannins. If you have even burned pine tea, reaching 215f or higher, you will notice a dry aftertaste similar to cheap red wines. If you get that aftertaste, all nutritional value of the tea has been destroyed. There are no usable sugars in the needles, at least not that will be released into the tea. That means the tea's flavor will benefit from a sweetener. Anything from table sugar and honey (more modern) to birch sap and berries (field expedient but still yummy imo).
Click to expand...

md 25v i swear i will pay you if you put all your life knowledge in a book lol
 
dnhald- Thanks, I take that as a huge compliment.
From years with the Mid Atlantic Primitive Skills (MAPS) group, I have picked up a lot from the men and women who have been kind enough to share their knowledge.
 
IUKE12 said:
Lots of Hemlock around me so that's what I use. I usually boil for around six minutes and run it through a small #2 coffee cone filter.
Tastes pretty good:)
Click to expand...

Note well: That is the hemlock tree. That tea that Socrates drank was made from the hemlock plant. The hemlock tree is not poison. :)

You should have seen my mother's face when I told her I was drinking hemlock tea.... :eek:
 
dnhald said:
we have a lot of the same in az and within the next 4 weeks will be in the bush a lot i will try all the combos possible. but arnt juniper berries posinous?

I always thought all pine was poisonous if ingested but gin is made of juniper berries if I recall
Click to expand...
 
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