Favourite bush tea

[Baxter]

So....what's your favourite bush tea?
I know you can use pine needles, i'll probably try that one first.
I have not had it in mind to actually try any before, what are your recommendations? Thank you dudes and dudettes.

[Dark786]

i have tried manny thing that iclude rose hips, clovers, rasberry leaf pine needles plantain leafsand dandlion coffe. the clover and pine were the best out of all of them.

[wareagle69]

ground ivy and Labrador tea are my favorites but also like to dry out my blueberry leaves and make a good steeped tea, for coffee i go with dandelion roots.

[corndog-44]

Does dandelion wine count? lol

[Sarge47]

So....what's your favourite bush tea?
I know you can use pine needles, i'll probably try that one first.
I have not had it in mind to actually try any before, what are your recommendations? Thank you dudes and dudettes.

Lipton does it for me, It's BRISK!:rolleyes:

[Nomad]

I've had wild mint tea a few times, great for bedtime. makes me sleepy. yawn yawn.

[smokelessfire]

try spruce, fir, or hemlock tip teas. just like it says, the new spring growth on the end of the branches, or "tips".

[smokelessfire]

forgot. birch leaves twigs and inner green bark make an awesome tea, and it can be applied to poison ivy rash.

[Tony uk]

I only really drink pine needle tea, i like that taste the best i even make it in the morning in the kitchen :)

[NorthWindTrails]

Actually, the best tea I've ever had was free ... and it was from crushed/bruised wild strawberry leaves, steeped in boiling water. I never let it continue to boil after the leaves have been added. I honestly think this stands on its own against any other I've had. Be sure and cover the container while it steeps, and allow it to cool. This was tested years ago by the University of Pennsylvania and found to be richer in vitamin C than even fresh squeezed orange juice! Just something to have in your arsenal in case supplements or OJ is not available. NorthWind
P.S. This was suggested by the late Euell Gibbons after he saw an Amish boy gathering these leaves in the late winter, finding them under the snow!

[corndog-44]

Sassafras tea made from the leaves, flowers and roots. Best in spring. There's a lot of sassafras right up the trail behind my house.

[Nativedude]

Sage, spruce, and rose hips tea are my favorites.

Wild mint is a good pick-me-up in the winter and good if you get sick.

ENJOY!!

[HOP]

I wil agree with corndog on sasafras the would smoke impairs a grewt taste to meat as wel.

[Beo]

For me its either sasafras or pine but I also like maple bark tea, by scraping off the old bark and boiling some of the fresh its pretty good.

[trax]

We've just always called this plant Labrador tea or "bush tea", but you boil up a handful with a little wild mint, mmm....

[dilligaf2u2]

I sneak into the 7-11 and get a coffee in the large cups.

I know where the wild raspberries grow. I have planted mint along the rivers in this area and it is doing great. The crab apple skins work for a nice tangy tea and the grape skins are a bit bitter but good.

Don

[Rick]

Hate to dredge up an old post but this is a good one. I like the tips of Red Spruce. It's a flavorful tea and a bit stronger than White Pine.

For those of you that like sassafras tea, there is anecdotal evidence that it may cause cancer. I drank it for years and love it but I've stopped because of some reports I've read. Here is an example:

http://www.bccancer.bc.ca/PPI/UnconventionalTherapies/SassafrasTea.htm

I guess you try your best to live a healthy life and die anyway. (shrug)

[Elkchsr]

On a cold winters day after walking for hours in ankle deep snow

Stop, set up a fire, harvest some pine needles, fir needles, or juniper berries and have a hot drink made with melted snow just seems to hit the spot

Another one in winter is knick knick berries, it takes about a third of a cup, but you get a mild tart taste, then just eat the berries when finished

In spring when berries are on, makes a great pick me up

[Rick]

What are knick knick berries? I've never heard of them.

[Elkchsr]

Sorry... :)

I spelled it wrong... :eek:

Kinnikinnick

Also more well known as Bearberry

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bearberry

http://www.lewis-clark.org/content/content-article.asp?ArticleID=1352

[Rick]

Oh, cool beans. I'm with you. Thanks.

By the way, your links contain double http://s so they will go belly up if anyone clicks on 'em.

[Elkchsr]

Thanks Rick...

Fixed... :)

[wildWoman]

I like mixtures best, fireweed with rosehips and a couple spruce needles in there being a favourite.

[Rick]

Beebalm is another good one.

[Sarge47]

Never made tea out of anything growing around me before, usually it must of came off of the Lipton Tree!:rolleyes:

[Rick]

Red Spruce is a real delight. It leaves a clean taste in the mouth unlike any herbal or commercial tea I've had.

[Tony uk]

When i make a brew sometimes i stick a crushed up multi-vit tablet in there to add to its vit content

[LadyTrapper]

Wild peppermint tea for me! I dry my peppermint over the summer and use the dried leaves in the winter. Once the tea is steeped, the rehydrated leaves at the bottom or your cup can be chewed almost like gum LOL...my kids love them.
Very good for upset belly too.

[moses]

Birch sap and rose.hips

[RangerXanatos]

Glad this thread came back up.

I've tried to make pine needle tea, but it always comes out tasting more like turpentine. I've tried to boil the needles in water and to boil the water, take it off of heat and then add the needles. I've tried to sweeten it up with honey, but I just end up throwing the pot out. Am I doing something wrong, or am I just too used to regular southern sweet tea?

[crashdive123]

I've only made it a couple of times. I took a good sized handful of needles, chopped them up, added them to a cup of boiling water, took the water off the heat and let it steep about 25 minutes. Tasted like pine.

[red lake]

How do you harvest Labrador Tea. Should you dry the leaves first? Are the dried and dead leaves good ot go in winter? I have heard if made wrong it can be harmful.

[snakeman]

blackberry tea is great . Crush up the leaves and put it in boiling water.I'd like to try sassafras tea but theres only one or two sassafras saplings( very small ones <3 ft.) that I know of in my section of the woods and I don't want to uproot them. I've had pine needle tea before but I don't know what kind of pine and I don't think i put enough needles in.

[moses]

Glad this thread came back up.

I've tried to make pine needle tea, but it always comes out tasting more like turpentine. I've tried to boil the needles in water and to boil the water, take it off of heat and then add the needles. I've tried to sweeten it up with honey, but I just end up throwing the pot out. Am I doing something wrong, or am I just too used to regular southern sweet tea?I boil the water throw in some chopped up pine needles add honey and let it sit for 15 minutes.

I think your to used to southern tea LOL:D

[Heady beaster]

Boiling pine needles too long will degrade the vitamin c.

WARNING.

Avoid ponderosa pine, lodge pole pine and common yew, as they are harmful.
Source... Standing jaguar.com

[randyt]

Boiling also makes the tea "strong" better to get the water boiling then pull off the fire and steep the needles in the water.