Pine Needle Tea

Yesterday, during my jaunt through the Arboretum, I collected a branch of pine needles. I’ve often heard good things of pine needle tea, so I thought I’d try it. I put a little less than a handful of needles into 1 cup of boiling water, and let it sit for about 15 minutes. Strangely, the tea doesn’t really smell like pine – it had a sort of citrus smell to it. Someone who walked in on me while I was doing this thought it smelled like tangerine.

The tea itself was really good. I think it’s better tasting than most of the fancy store bought stuff, and it’s free. The only downside was that, since I don’t have a strainer, I ended up drinking a few pine needles, too. The needles have a sort of sour after taste and are a little too chewy for my liking. Next time, I’ll try to drink it with my bombilla.