Health Restorative Pine Needle Tea Recipe

Recipe for Pine Needle Tea Photo source by Boryslav Shoot at Pexels.com

It's winter time for some and it's ever important to have a potent source of Vitamin C that's free and literally grows on trees. Pine trees that is and this is an ancient source used by indigenous peoples to maintain and restore their health during both summer and winter months. Mountain people and survivalists and those skilled in bushcraft know this elixir well and I'm happy to share with you all how to make it yourself. Big ups to @squirrelbait for inadvertently reminding me of it.

PINE NEEDLE TEA RECIPE Photo source by Gizem toprak at Pexels.com 1 Collect a good amount of green pine needles, make sure to harvest from the furthest end of a branch! Rinse them well, running your fingers through to loosen and rub away any debris or surface contaminants.

2 Separate the needles from the branch and chop the needles into 1 inch sections.

3 Place the pine needles halfway filling up a Mason’s jar and then boil a tea kettle’s worth of water.

4 Next, take a metal table spoon and put that in the jar with the pine needles. Pour the hot water over the pine needles in the mason jar, filling it to the top.

5 Stir the needles in the jar to express and extract the vitamin C and mineral nutrients, then screw the lid on loosely and steep the pine needles for 15 minutes.

Add 1 or 2 teaspoons raw honey for taste and to add additional antibacterial compounds. Drink up and enjoy.

DO NOT perform a process of boiling the water with the pine needles, as that process boils away the vital Vitamin C and also turns the tea into a form of Turpentine.