Sumac berry tea.

Newsgroups: alt.folklore.herbs
Subject: Re: Wanted: Sumac Tea Recipe
From: eschulz.uoft02.utoledo.edu Beth
Date: Tue, 1 Aug 1995 04:28:59 GMT

altair4.pcnet.com (David Hickey-Schiappa) writes:
>Jack Coghill (jcoghill.superior.carleton.ca) wrote:
>: I once read a recipe for Sumac Tea, produced using the berries. I would like if someone could refresh my memory. It is probably a simple infusion, but at what stage of maturity should the berries be at, ratios of berry weight to water? etc. [break]
> I've read that you just soak the ripe (red) berries in water for a few hours. Supposed to taste something like pink lemonade. Good luck.

Make sure the water is ice cold, otherwise the tea will be very bitter.
Also, it helps if you rub the berries together gently.

From: dww5.psu.edu (Dale Woika)

>Make sure the water is ice cold, otherwise the tea will be very bitter.
>Also, it helps if you rub the berries together gently.

Also--very important--strain the infusion through several layers of cheesecloth or filter paper (i.e. coffee filter) to remove the very irritating & persistent hairs found on the berries.

Use the berries as soon as they are a deep crimson color; waiting to harvest is inviting them to get rained on, which tends to wash out the flavor. The taste is sort of an astringent-lemony flavor, and actually somewhat good. I suggest using good water to make the infusion (filtered or bottled) as chlorine tends to degrade the very subtle fruity essence of the brew.

From: Marylin.bbs.c4systm.com (Marylin Kraker)

> I once read a recipe for Sumac Tea, produced using the berries. I would like if someone could refresh my memory. It is probably a simple infusion, but at what stage of maturity should the berries be at, ratios of berry weight to water? etc.

The old --Stalking the Wild Asparagus-- says to pick the red blossom heads when it hasn't rained for a while -- the rain washes off the malic acid you're after. The recipe calls for pulverizing them in water, soaking, then straining to get out all the solids and little hairs.

I put a bunch in my food processor and covered with water, then pulverized. Left them to soak for a while, then strained. All it needs is a bit of sweetening.

The book also says you can dry the blossom heads so you can make the drink in the winter, too. Plan to try that, as we have LOTS of sumac here.

From: Frederic Bruno <bruno.brunolaw.com>

No need to go through all that bother. Just half fill a big stainless or other non-reactive container with the ripe berry clusters. Fill with cold water. Compress and rub all the berries with your hands. A good sign that you're done is when most of the berries are separated from the stems. Let sit for an hour or two. Then add sugar to taste directly into the container. Strain into bottles, etc with cheese-cloth funnels. Refrigerate. Excellent.