Sunday, August 21, 2011

red clover tea


One of my favorite snacky plants is the Red Clover.  They offer up big fluffy flower heads with petals that can be pulled out easily for nibbling the sweet white tips.   This is how I ate them as a kid (and still do) and how my kids eat them but you can pop the entire flower head in your mouth too.  I had read that a tea can be made from them so I decided to give it a try.


I placed a couple of flower heads in a cup of boiling water, after checking them for unwanted insect friends aka "extra protein", and let it steep for about 15 minutes.


The resulting tea had turned a pale tannish yellow.


I had read that tea was slightly sweet and that the leaves had a taste that hinted at vanilla so it was with great anticipation that I raised the cup to my lips.  I took my first sip and it tasted rather...blech.  Mushrooms.  It tasted like weak mushroom water.  Don't get me wrong, I love mushrooms more than life itself, but not so much as a tea.  I took another sip just to be sure there wasn't something worth salvaging then dumped the rest in one of my houseplants.

You can't win them all.

I took a nibble from another of the flower heads that I had gathered and it didn't have any of its normal sweetness so I'm guessing that was the problem.  It may be too late in the season or something for this but I've also read that the tea is better with the addition of other herbs like mint.  I'll try it again next year.

Until then it looks pretty on my drying rake between the Tansy and Yarrow.


Have you tried red clover tea?

8 comments:

Down 2 Earth said...

Red clover is very beneficial to the female organs and etc... A cup a day is wonderfully nuturing to your body!
Drink up ~

ellen said...

I've never tried making it myself. I did have some years ago that I bought at a health food store. It was good.
We do have a lot of clover here, but not the red clover. I should give it a try with the white and see what happens, tho. as you said, it may be a bit late in the year. Fall is on her way, isn't she? Oh, joy, it's my favorite time of year in Autumn.
Happy tea time to you.

trish said...

again i learn from your blog something i never knew before! i see red clovers everywhere but never knew they were edible - thank you!

Fée des Bois said...

I like red clover and I'm disapointed to learn that the tea do not taste very good.

I always learn so many things every time I visit your blog. Thank you!

Tara said...

I haven't tried it yet but I swear one of these days I'm going to try one of these edible plants. For some reason, I feel like I need to psych myself up for it first though.

Margie Oomen said...

have tried it but prefer to such the nectar out of freshly picked ones myself

Mona said...

We love to suck the nectar as well! I've only had it in tea in a mix with other herbs/flowers, so I haven't thought about the taste in particular. Years ago I used it for making a sort of balm, for dry lips and minor scratches. It's supposed to soften and heal up the skin.

Laura A. said...

I'll have to go back and find it but I think you have to make the tea from blooms early in the year. By fall, they lose their flavour apparently.

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails