Teas of North America

Teas of North America are not related botanically to the Asian plant we've come to call "tea". Teas can be brewed from any flavorful or medicinal edible plant, and the inhabitants of North America tried many varieties and combinations. For starters, it was a way to flavor water. For another, medicinals were often administered as a tea.

The number of plants used to make teas is probably uncountable. Below is expanded information on a few of the more interesting herbal or vegetative Native American teas.

sassafras: Sassafras albidum is a northeastern tree with polymorphic leaf shapes. It yields a flavorful tea by boiling its leaves, roots, or bark in hot water - 30 minutes for its roots or bark, less for steeping leaves. The tea of roots turns into a deep red color. It was considered a tonic, and was used in fever reduction. Roots are best gathered in spring or fall. Caution: components of sassafras are now known to have carcinogenic properties.
birch	birch: Birch deserves an article of its own, because besides being an important ingredient for tea in its range, this tree's sap was tapped for beers and vinegars. The last sap to come from tapping season was used in teas. Other plants could be steeped in this sap to impart extra flavor. There are over ten species of Betula and all can be used. Betula lenta, the black birch, is high in oil of wintergreen, and bark or twigs from this tree make a flavorful tea.
blackberry, raspberry: The leaves of the Rubus genus of plants make a fine tea when steeped in hot boiling water for several minutes.	raspberry
	rose hip: teas made from native rose hips were sweet, flavorful, and are now recognized to have high quantities of vitamin C. All roses are members of the genus Rosa.
bergamot: Monarda didyma (bee balm) or M. fistulosa (wild bergamot) are the most well known of the indigenous members of the mint family. Teas brewed from these plants tend to be soothing.
juniper	juniper: A most useful plant, Juniperus communis (and others) could be made into a tea. For this, stems, leaves and berries were crushed and steeped. Juniper also has a a scent that keeps away insects when used topically, and the plant was nutritious in its own right. Juniper is what gives today's gin its zip. From Alaska to the southwest Hopi, juniper has medicinal and ritual benefits. A Hopi mother who has recently given birth may be washed in a juniper tea. Caution, juniper can irritate the kidneys.
acorn: Oak tree come in many species of Quercus, all of which produce acorns. The shells of acorns would be roasted for a while, then were steeped to make a coffee-like tea.	acorn

Other plants used as teas in North America include persimmon, spicebush, strawberry, elderberry, sarsaparilla (also the flavoring for root beer), witch hazel, the linden (basswood) tree, dittany, and goldenrod.

References:
Native Harvests: Recipes and Botanicals of the American Indian, by Barrie Kavasch. 1979. Vintage Books. ISBN 0-394-72811-4.
Alaska's Wilderness Medicines
Native Teas and Beverages
Images: Morguefile. (gracey, Annika, d3designs); Wikipedia.
Archeo Art Media and Web Works

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Teas of North America
More Beverages from Around the Americas
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