Elderberry Tea
Let’s take a look around. The world has changed so much that it’s hard to believe if things will get normal again. Crowds are extinct, we can’t see facial expressions due to masks, fairs and festival gatherings are rare, even the food seems skeptical and inhaling fresh air seems like magic that never happens. Yes, this is the scenario in most parts of the world. But with many problems, comes the courage to create a perfect solution for them.
As we near go into the next year, keeping thumbs up, we try to solve the mystery of remaining healthy. This is because it’s more important than ever to have good health and strong immunity. We all know what carelessness about healthy landed us in. Many scientists, experts, medical enthusiasts and authorities are daily finding new things that will help us stay safe in the future. This also means that several old remedies that were ignored are coming into play again. And one such remedy is elderberry tea.
Today, we shall shed some light on the tips, healthy benefits, importance, traits and few different ways to make elderberry tea. Let’s get started.
Knowing about elderberry
Originating from the very famous Sambucus genus, the elderberry is a flowering plant. If you thinking you haven’t seen one, you might have but could not notice it. Elderberries are found all across the planet. They are in different shades of blue, black and red. With the help of their high contrasting colors, they can be a good addition to any garden as a showpiece plant. But many people also love having them as fresh brews of tea.
Is elderberry poisonous
When you read about fruits such as elderberry online, you might come across several negative articles. Some might even say that you should not consume elderberries in any case as they are very poisonous. While things might be true to some extent, taking them in the right form matters. Elderberries are poisonous only when they are raw and unripe. This is the case with several fruits and flowers we have around us. The stems and leaves of the elderberries are also poisonous.
The poisonous nature of the elderberries is due to some toxins present. The main one is the sambunigrin. When you take this poisonous substance, it can degrade into a much harmful product called hydrogen cyanide. This may lead to diarrhea, vomiting and nausea symptoms.
It might interest you to know that ripe berries and even their flowers will not contain the toxic substance. A good and safer way to have them is to cook them as it eliminated the elements of sambuinigrin from the fruit.
Why chose tea
As you can already guess, even the ripe berries might portray some harmful effects on our health. Forget having them unripe as they are highly poisonous that way. This leaves the best method to have them and that is as a brewed tea. This means that you are boiling the berries and extracting their rich nutrients into clean boiled water. This eliminates all the negative elements from the berries and gives you a rich taste.
A single cup of the brewed tea will give you calories, proteins, carbohydrates, sugar and fiber. Several more nutrients remain exploring. The tea is a rich source of Vitamin A, Vitamin C, iron and even calcium. This shows why tea should be a good source of nutrition.
Tea preparations
Making the elderberry tea is not at all a difficult task. In fact, there are many ways you can prepare them. A general rule is to always take dried and ripe elderberries. You can then boil them and strain them to remove the solids. The tea usually comes with a sweet and sour taste. The earthy notes in the tea make you wonder why you hadn’t tried it before. Many people love adding more elements to the tea to make it more interesting. Some of the common ones are ginger, orange juice, honey after boiling and cinnamon sticks. The tea is said to be a good immunity booster. It also helps in digestion and relieves constipation.
First method – elderberry tea with rosemary for cold and related infections
Elderberry is a strong anti-viral fruit. Many people take it at the first sign of infections such as influenzas or cold. While the fruit is good at working as a single herb, you can add more herbs to increase the consistency and nutritional value. In this tea preparation, we shall be using many other herbs to conjugate the properties of the elderberries.
While the tea is good as a normal routine, you should have it when you come across the signs of cold and flu. You can take it if you face congestion in the throat or nose. If you are having fever pains and aches, you might be facing respiratory illness. Adding aromatic herb to this tea does wonder in such cases.
In this preparation, we shall be using warming herbs that are also called pungent. These are special herbs that help open your senses such as breathing ability, blocked nose, sore throat, etc. in other words, these herbs help stimulate things and make them movable, sinus or lung infection in this case. They also help in slow digestion. This tea combines the anti-flu fighting properties of elderberry with the warming and stimulating features of herbs such as ginger, rosemary and black pepper.
Let’s start with the things you will need. You will want around 30 grams dried and ripe elderberries, half a teaspoon of dried ginger ¼ teaspoon of black peppercorns. You will also need a teaspoon of rosemary, the same quantity of thyme. To the mixture, you can add a natural sweetener such as honey. You will need around one cup of water.
To proper, simply add the elderberries along with black pepper and ginger in a saucepan. Cover the pan and then bring it to a boil. Sim the gas for about 20 minutes. Remove from stove and then add rosemary and thyme herbs for aroma. Strain the mixture into a cup. Add honey as desired.
Keep in mind that we add aromatic herbs after boiling to avoid the evaporating of their oils during the shimmer process.
You can have the tea once or twice a day for better effects.
Method 2 –
Nettle leaves and oat straw elderberry tea for calcium
Out of all major things, it is important to know that elderberries are rich in nutrients. You just need the right way to extract and consume them. It consists of potassium ascorbic acid, beta-carotene.4., magnesium and even calcium. Even if you take the berries daily, you will have ample intake of nutrition in eh right manner. This herbal tea joins this nutritional value with other herbs having a good amount of nutrients. The herbs we use here have a salty flavor. The two major ones include stinging nettle and oat straw. The deep mineral-rich taste is the trademark of this tea. They give flares of green leafy vegetables such as spinach. The tea helps in strengthening our bone and skeletal system. It is also essential to improve the health of our teeth and hair.
To get started with preparation, you need to have 30grams of elderberries, half a cup of dry nettle leaves, half a cup of dry oat straw and 32 ounces of water. You can also add honey as earlier. Place the herbs in a saucepan and bring them to boil after covering the pan. Reduce the simmer. Boil in this condition for 20 minutes. Strain in a cup and add honey. Here you can use the herbs directly as they help provide rich nutrients during the boiling.
The tea can be had throughout the day. One can even have it as a cool beverage for revitalizing.
Method 3 – elderberry and rose hips tea for heart and eye
When it comes to antioxidants, elderberries have no shortage. When you consume antioxidant-rich food, you can reduce inflation. You may also lead to a decrease in systemic inflation and chronic inflammatory diseases. The inflammation that happens inside our blood vessels can lead to the onset of various heart diseases. Many chronic illnesses are also the root cause of it. Hence, elderberry tea helps in defending us from these problems. Here, we are using few herbs that just like elderberries, are also rich in antioxidants. As a result, the tea helps protect our systems from inflammation. The herbs also protect our other body organs from inflammation such as the eyes. The ancient studies of herbal medicines suggest that all herbs are somewhat sour. A fine example is a blueberry which helps support our heart from many aspects while decreasing inflammation. The tea also blends such herbs which are sour and are high in antioxidant values. The three are rose hips, hawthorn berries and elderberries. They can together help protect our eyes and heart.
Get started by stocking 30 grams of elderberries, 20 grams of dried hawthorn berries and a spoon of dry and de-seeded rose hips. You will need few spoons of honey and 14 ounces of water. Place the three herbs together in the pan to bring them to a boil. Shimmer the mixture for 20 minutes. Strain and add honey as per your desire. Drink it during morning and night.
Method 4 – elderberry tea with dandelion and herbs for improving digestion
It is not a wonder to guess that elderberries are good for digestion. Bitter herbs like these are the natural detoxifiers of our body. These are seen plenty in green teas as well that are perfect for detoxification. When we talk about detoxification, we always mean that a good digestive system. When our toxins are removed from our bodies, our digestion works finer. This way, elderberries are helping our liver and entire digestive system. There are very beneficial herbs in this recipe that are helpful for the liver, stomach and even skin. The herbs we are using are dandelion root, burdock root and chicory root. This is going to be a very rich-tasting beverage and will act as a natural digestive drink.
You will need 30 grams of elderberries, 20 grams dry and roasted dandelion root, a tablespoon of dry burdock root, a tablespoon of roasted chicory root. Add water and start boiling all the herbs together in a saucepan. Cover the pan and bring to boil. Shimmer for around 15 minutes. After straining, add honey to taste. Drink throughout the day for better results.
Elderberries for immunity- The Special Tea
The elderberries have lots of nutrition that can also help us fight many viruses. It also helps us increase our immunity. They can help clear your way from cold or flu. They are also helpful when you are sick from fever or any other viral infection. These types of herbs can nourish our immune systems. This is because it contains sweet-tasting substances called polysaccharides. These help build up our immunity system. One such identical herb is the Astragalus. It is sweet to taste and used as rounded roots. This can be infused with elderberries to create a beautiful immunity tea. We will also add demulcent marshmallow root in this for better consistency.
To prepare this tea, you will need 30 grams of elderberries, 20 grams of the roots of Astragalus, dried, a tablespoon of marshmallow root and a glass of water. Start as usual by placing herbs in a saucepan and bringing it to boil. After simmering for 20 minutes, strain it and add honey. You might want to skip honey as this tea might already have a sweet note to it. Drink during day and night for best results.
Conclusion
Summing it up, we understand that many of you are not aware of the herbs we are using here. But that was the main motto of this article- to bring you closer to those new herbs that can be miraculous for our healthy. The name elderberry is in itself new to many common people. But if you read about it, try it, realize its benefits and learn how to consume it, you can reap all the benefits. The elderberries are easily available at any grocery store or a fruit market.
A thing you need to take care is that you should not consume the elderberries as it is. Even if it’s ripe, it needs to be boiled to remove the toxic substance. The only and the best way is to boil it for at least 20 minutes continuously so that its nutrients are strained in the liquid and toxins destroy. This way, you can have it safely and you will love it, without having to worry about its side effects.
