White Pine Sauna Tea
Warm up from the inside with this cozy white pine tea.
It’s been snowing for 48 hours with heavy, wet lake-effect snow. Every branch on every tree is stooped and hanging low, weighed down and hibernating. Our tender white pine trees have somewhat brittle branches and during this kind of weather some branches will snap off. Time to make some white pine tea.
Our beautiful white pine that lines the walkway to our porch lost it’s top during the storm and luckily just brushed the house without much damage. We’ll have to wait to get out the chainsaw for cleanup, but in the meantime I’m taking advantage of these fragrant and nutritious pine needles to make white pine tea.
Harvesting evergreens
Many evergreens are edible and especially nutritious first thing in the spring when they get their new growth fuzzies. Packed with vitamin C, pine needles are great for a mid-winter immune boost. Plus, it’s like your own personal sauna, warming you up from the inside out. The color of this tea is just barely yellow, a beautiful and calming color in a white or glass mug.
A note about harvesting: Please be respectful and mindful of these trees when harvesting. Do not take more than you need and try to gather lightly from many different branches. The best scenario is to use an already freshly fallen branch! For the most lovely and inspired writing on this topic, check out Robin Wall Kimmerer’s book “Braiding Sweetgrass”.
PS: A few of you have asked me about my cute tea steeper with copper spoon. You can find it on Amazon here.
White Pine Sauna Tea
Ingredients
- 3 cups boiling water
- 1 cup washed and chopped pine needles
- squeeze of lemon
- 1 tsp honey
Instructions
- Set three cups of water to boil.
- Gently wash and dry the pine needles and using scissors cut into 1 inch pieces. Place pine needles into a saucepan or large glass bowl.
- Pour boiling water over the pine needles and cover for 5-10 minutes.
- Strain the pine needles reserving the pine-infused water.
- Serve tea with a squeeze of lemon and a spoonful of honey.
Did you make this recipe?
Please let me know how it turned out for you! Leave a comment below and tag @growingwithgertie on Instagram.
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