Cedar Tea

January is hot tea month and to celebrate we are reposting Cedar Tea.  

Cedar tea is a traditional indigenous drink full of vitamin C consumed all year round.  

We were introduced to cedar tea at the Grey Roots Maple Moon Festival.

How to make Cedar Tea:

• Walk out into your local cedar bush taking with you a small amount of tobacco. Once in the bush breath deeply notice how the bush smells and then stand silently listening to the bush and the animals you call it home.
• Locate a healthy cedar tree with fresh growth and place the tobacco at the base of the tree, this is your gift to the tree.
• Using a sharp knife or scissors cut (never rip) off the equivalent of 1 cup of cedar new growth cedar. You are now ready to leave the bush if you want to.
• Once home wash the cedar in cold water, remove any brown bits or thick woody stems. Place what you will not be using in a dish and set it aside.
• Place the cedar in the bottom of a clean tea pot and cover with boiling water or in a sauce pan and fill with water bring to a boil.
• Steep the cedar for at least 45 minutes. You can reheat the water if you like your tea very hot. If boiling the cedar taste after 15 minutes.
• Strain the tea and enjoy.
• When you are done with the cedar, gather up with the discarded bites with the cedar you used in your tea and again return to the bush. Place these on the ground where they will nourish the cedar bush.

Grandma Snyder

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