Sumac Tea

[MadTripper]

Anyone ever make sumac tea? There is an outdoor show on tomorrow that shows how and I've always wondered. I'll post the info if its worthwile.

[Babs]

Ive not made the tea, but Sumac 'lemonade' is always on hand at my house. A big hit with everyone. Company stops over for a bit and on these 90+ degree days always ask for something cool to drink. Having nothing on hand (thanks kids..haha) I run out to the back yard, pick a few of the sumac 'berries', add water, let sit til water turns a redish pink, add some honey ( I found sumac to be about as sour as a lemon!) to taste and serve over ice. At first I got some strange looks and even more hesatant ppl to take a drink. Funny how as the summer went on, we had more people stop over for a bit and for some odd reason, always were thirsty...lol

Interested to hear about the tea tho!

P.S. Dont forget to strain it, floating bits of 'hairs' from the 'berries' do nothing for the taste let alone the mouth and throat. :-/

[AlchemyAcres]

Yeah, sumacade...many refer to sumacade as sumac tea...or are you talking sometihing totally different? Sucky year for sumac around here though....most of the heads are wormy.

~Martin

[MadTripper]

It was effectively the same as you all spoke about. We have a bunch of heads around this year but I'm not sure about the worms as I haven't investigated yet.
They had a few other recipes on there that were pretty cool. They roasted chickory root and drank it like coffee and also ate some wild flowers. You can watch the show online at the following link:

http://www.wnep.com/Global/category.asp?C=21511&nav=menu158_17

The episode is 8/19 and is in 4 parts.

Enjoy!!!

[bookwormom]

we had lots of it last year, matter of fact, I served it at our anniversary party and folks loved it. None this year, the sumac tried hard but the flowers just dried off. I have not seen a single cluster this year. the bees were all over the flowers last year.
I am wondering if someone has made a concentrate of it, like a syrup that you can keep in bottles and just add water when you need it? We make a syrup like that out of elderblossoms and it is one of our most favorite drinks, sorry, even more favorite than sumacade.

[AlchemyAcres]

No, I've never made the concentrate, but I've heard that some folks make a sumac concentrate for use as a lemon juice substitute.
I dry the berries to preserve them....use them for 'ade, sumac hot toddy or mulled sumac, for the holidays.


~Martin :)

[bookwormom]

Good idea, thanks for that info. guess I will do that.

[CarolAnn]

Yummy stuff!

You want to find berries that have the purple blush over the red berry. The purple stuff is what washes off and tastes so good - not the berries themselves.

I've used it as the sour agent in elderberry jelly, as the elderberries need acid to gel. It worked great, tasted great and was gone all too soon!!

I'd say the sour of sumac is "fruity" - more so than the sharp sour of lemons.

[MotherCharlotte]

How very cool. I am definitely going to try this this summer if I can scavenge enough berries. :)

[tomato204]

It's better to get the Sumac berries as they are getting to their full ripeness and not leave them on the plant. Too many rains will wash away the water-soluble tea/lemonade.

[sage_morgan]

*We make a syrup like that out of elderblossoms and it is one of our most favorite drinks, sorry, even *more favorite than sumacade.

bookworm, how do you make a syrup of elderblossoms? they are just blooming here now

[bookwormom]

I am sorry I did not get back to this thread sooner sage morgan. I guess it is too late for this year, but here goes:

12 elderblossom clusters (shake them out so there are no bugs)
4 lemons
1 quart of water
1 cup of cider vinegar
3 pounds of sugar

wash and slice the lemons, try to n ot wash the flowers, they loose flavor,
layer themm into a bowl with a lid, pour the water over them and let stand in the refrigerator 5 or six days. Strain, add vinegar and sugar to the liquid and boil at a rolling boil for five minutes, then pour into sterilized bottles with a screw top lid. Add this syrup to cold water, suit to taste. It is very refreshing.

[crafty2002]

I have been looking up all kinds of info on plants that I can grow for meds and eating or dricking and such.
I came across this thread and since no one described the plant itself here I tried to look it up.
Everything I am finding says sumac is poison and is kin to poison oak etc....
I had never heard of it until now, but I am completely lost on this one.
From what I read you need top stay away from it like a plaque.
Would someone explain it for me?
Thanks
Dennis

[CarolAnn]

Crafty - there are two different plants called Sumac. The one you want has RED berries - it's staghorn sumac. The poisonous one is closer related to poison ivy & it has loosely spaced white, waxy berries and hairy root-like things hanging off of the stem - really creepy looking.

In the late summer or fall, staghorn sumac berries get an almost bluish crystaline blush to them - that's the stuff that you wash off the berries and make tea or lemonade from. It's fruity and sour. You also have to pick the berry heads over to make sure they're clean - and bug free. Euell Gibbons (the first really famous wild food guy) used to say that he put a basket full of sumac heads in the clothes washer and swished them in cold water! Considering the taste of soap residue, I wouldn't recommend that! The acidic part disolves very easily in water in a BOWL ;D - and also the tiny hairs from the plant, so you do have to strain it through clean white muslin before you use it. Taste it and see if it's sour enough - and continue swishing more berries through until it is.

This stuff is better than lemons to my taste - and I'd love to know if there is vitamin C in it. Sure tastes like the sour chewable vitamin C tablets my mom used to give me!

I also use sumac "tea" made this way to sour up elderberry juice to make it set. Elderberries alone don't have enough acid to make jelly - but the two together are a delightful combination!

[bookwormom]

If memory serves me right, Euell Gibbons had an old wringer washer that he used for things like that, it was not used for laundry at all.

I have never seen the poison variety around here. don't worry Crafty,you won't get the two mixed up. And you will love the free lemonade. (what do lemons sell for now?)

[MamaLiberty]

Poison oak/ivy used to be listed in the same genus as Sumac, but is now reclassified as Toxicodendron. They are loosely related, but worlds apart. And no, you won't easily mistake one for the other.

The genus name is Rhus, and there are many varieties in a number of different climates. Those most likely to produce the berries mentioned here are:

R. integrifolia or "Lemonade Berry," native to coastal Southern California to Baja.

R. ovata or "Sugar Bush," also native to S. Calif and parts of Arizona. Fruit is sweeter than others.

R. trilobata or "Staghorn Sumac," native to most of N/E America. Laciniata and Dissecta are female variations. Would need another variety to pollinate.

R. glabra or "Smooth Sumac,' native to much of north America, is similar to trilobata, but does not have the velvet. Produces significant fruit.

There are many other varieties adapted to other climates, but my source says nothing about whether the fruit is edible or useful since this is primarily a gardening book (Sunset Western Garden Book), not a wild food book.

I've planted a goodly number of the R. glabra here in N/E Wyoming and am anxious to see how it does. These were native seedlings so it will be a while until I have fruit. Can't wait to try some Sumac tea! :)

[tomato204]

Don't forget you can save those sumac seeds to feed wild birds in winter, they don't even mind a few bugs, lol. I dry them and bag them for later.