Sumac Tea:

[imscotty]

When I am hiking I grow tired of plain water after a while and have been looking for ways to spice it up using found sources along the trail. Last year I experimented with different evergreen teas (a blend of White Pine and Hemlock was my favorite). Today's experiment is Sumac Tea...

I collected a a few clusters of Sumac berries (see photo). These berries are a little past their prime it being December. I removed the berries, rubbed them up a bit, and added them to cold water. I like to make 'Sun Teas' I just set the covered jar on the windowsill for a day or two and let the berries seep. Sumac berries are loaded with Vitamin C.

After two days of seeping I filtered the tea. Sumac can have tiny hairs that may be irritating, so filtering through something like a coffee filter is recommended. (see photos).

The taste was tart, refreshing, definitely something I would want to drink on the trail. Tasted like tea with a healthy shot of lemon juice in it. It is tart, many would want to sweeten this, but I would be happy to drink this when hiking as is.

By the Way: For those of you who are concerned, this is not to be confused with Poison Sumac, Poison Sumac is a totally different plant, the berries are white, and in fact it must be pretty rare around here because I have never seen any ever. Sumac is pretty easy to identify.

Enjoy, I hope you have found this post helpful. Scott

[Dogwood]

After all the sumac I've seen especially the smooth and staghorn varieties I never considered making Sumac Tea from the fruit. Thanks for the idea.
I see the need to filter to remove the hairs though. So reddish berries is the key to the non pisonous plant fruit. I've had it once or twice though. As in the linked article it also had a flavor/taste reminiscent of cranberry lemonade.

http://www.healing-from-home-remedie...sumac-tea.html

http://thepotlicker.com/2011/08/11/s...is-not-poison/

[zelph]

Sounds refreshing.....thanks for the idea.

I have a seasoning called "habash" made from the sumac seeds. It's used in a salt shaker to add to salads, soups etc. It's a seasoning used in India.

I'm going to shake some into a glass and let it sit for a few hours to see if I can get a tea made from it. I like tinkering :-)

[Demeter]

I like to suck on the berries while walking. Makes you pucker up, that's for sure!!

[zelph]

I like to suck on the berries while walking. Makes you pucker up, that's for sure!!

How do you remove the fuzz?

[shelterbuilder]

A very good source of vitamin C. I usually enjoy some over the Christmas holiday while we are in the Southern Tier of NY - my in-laws have lived there for many years, and staghorn sumac grows EVERYWHERE! (Of course, my wife thinks that I'm crazy to drink "poison tea"...I just can't make her understand.... (Oh, well, that's more tea for me!)

[Damn Yankee]

rose hips are awesome also.

[Odd Man Out]

Many years ago I heard Dick Siegel perform "When the Sumac is on Fire". I always think of this in the fall when the Sumac leave are a brilliant red color.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQeLUnSQ7PA

This song is also awesome.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjAzNrHxUWY

[wormer]

I recently tried white pine needle tea that was good.

[shelterbuilder]

Not trying to hijack the thread, but wintergreen tea is great for sore, aching muscles, but be aware that the medicinal component here is similar to aspirin, so if you have problems with aspirin (or might be taking anti-coagulants), then this one may not be for you.

[Odd Man Out]

Not trying to hijack the thread, but wintergreen tea is great for sore, aching muscles, but be aware that the medicinal component here is similar to aspirin, so if you have problems with aspirin (or might be taking anti-coagulants), then this one may not be for you.

I love to chew Wintergreen leaves. What's the recipe for tea?

[shelterbuilder]

I have an OLD coffee pot that holds about 3 cups, so I usually take a rounded handful of wintergreen leaves and crush them (just crumple them in your hand) and add them to the pot. Bring the water to a boil for a minute or so, then just let the leaves steep for a few minutes. Strain out the leaves and enjoy! (I've had some folks tell me that the taste "must be acquired", but if you like to chew the leaves, this won't be a problem for you!!! The tea doesn't have quite as much "zip" as you get from chewing the leaves, but it's a "good sipper" in camp after the sun goes down.)

[imscotty]

Thanks for the recommendation Shelterbuilder. I will try the Wintergreen tea if I can find some. I need something for the aches and pains. What I see a lot of around here is members of the mint family (square stems), and I plan on trying some of that for flavor.

[Dogwood]

I can't contain my enthusiasm for such an often under appreciated and maligned plant such as sumac, especially Staghorn Sumac, as a valuable plant in Landscape Designs. Too often this beautiful native with several worthy characteristics, including its outstanding fall color, fruiting, and branching attributes, are overlooked bulldozed indiscriminately in favor of designs that seek to harshly control the landscape by obvious heavy handed human manipulation into "green meatballs, boxes, and hedges." Grouping several staghorn sumacs and limbing them up while underplanting with small shrubs, flowering perennials, and spring bulbs and placing as free form large Bonsai like accent plants in key locations is one of my favorite design objectives for sumacs.

[imscotty]

I've never seen a formal planting of Sumac, but I don't know why. They are indeed attractive and hardy. Of course I've also never understood why people try to get rid of dandelions.

[Driver8]

When I am hiking I grow tired of plain water after a while and have been looking for ways to spice it up using found sources along the trail. Last year I experimented with different evergreen teas (a blend of White Pine and Hemlock was my favorite). Today's experiment is Sumac Tea...

I collected a a few clusters of Sumac berries (see photo). These berries are a little past their prime it being December. I removed the berries, rubbed them up a bit, and added them to cold water. I like to make 'Sun Teas' I just set the covered jar on the windowsill for a day or two and let the berries seep. Sumac berries are loaded with Vitamin C.

After two days of seeping I filtered the tea. Sumac can have tiny hairs that may be irritating, so filtering through something like a coffee filter is recommended. (see photos).

The taste was tart, refreshing, definitely something I would want to drink on the trail. Tasted like tea with a healthy shot of lemon juice in it. It is tart, many would want to sweeten this, but I would be happy to drink this when hiking as is.

By the Way: For those of you who are concerned, this is not to be confused with Poison Sumac, Poison Sumac is a totally different plant, the berries are white, and in fact it must be pretty rare around here because I have never seen any ever. Sumac is pretty easy to identify.

That is super cool. Thanks for sharing this, Scotty. And thanks for anticipating and answering my and others' poison sumac question. I will be trying this and enjoying it soon.

[ALLEGHENY]

STAGHORN SUMAC WINE

• 5 lbs ripe staghorn sumac berries
• 3 lbs finely granulated sugar
• 1 gallon water
• 1 crushed Campden tablet
• 1 tsp yeast nutrient
• 1 packet Lalvin 71B-1122 (Narbonne) or RC212 (Bourgovin) wine yeast

Wash to remove dust and insects. Put clusters in container, cover with water and mash or crush the berries with 4" x 4" piece of hardwood. Strain juice into primary through clean muslin to remove plant hairs and pulp. Add sugar, crushed Campden and yeast nutrient and stir well until all sugar is dissolved. (NOTE: Sugar could be dissolved in boiling water beforehand but must cool to room temperature before pouring over sumac fruit.) Cover primary and set aside 12 hours. Add activated yeast, recover and stir daily. After 14 days of fermentation, transfer to secondary, and fit airlock. You should have more than one gallon of wine, so use a one-gallon secondary and a 1.5-liter wine bottle fitted with a #2 bung and airlock. The wine in the smaller secondary is what you will use to top up the one-gallon secondary. Rack, top up, and refit airlock every 30 days wine is clear and drops no sediments during 30-day period. Stabilize, sweeten to taste if desired, refit airlock, and set aside for 10 days. Rack into bottles and age at least one year before sampling. [Recipe adapted from Steven A. Krause's Wines from the Wilds]

[shelterbuilder]

Oh, my.... I'll have to dig out my airlocks and carboys for this one! Thanks.

[imscotty]

Hmmm, and apparently there are a few Sumac beers out there too...

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/30250/131622/

[Demeter]

How do you remove the fuzz?

I just roll them around in my hand first. Gets a lot of the fuzz off.

STAGHORN SUMAC WINE

I have almost as many sumacs as persimmons on my road. This is def going to be a wine for me next season!!