Black Elderberry Tea (From Dried or Foraged Berries)
Black elderberry tea is amazing, both hot and iced. Enjoy it for its tart, fruity flavor, or for its many health benefits!
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Servings: 1 cup
Calories: 5kcal
Ingredients
- 1 tbs dried elderberries (2 tablespoon fresh elderberries)
- 1 cup hot water
- sweetener of choice
Optional Ingredients
- 1 dehydrated orange slice
- 2 cardamom pods
- 2 cloves
- ¼ cinnamon stick
- 1 piece crystalized ginger (or fresh)
Instructions
Elderberry Tea by the Cup
- Add dried or freeze-dried elderberries to a disposable tea bag or basket.
- Pour boiling water over the elderberries and steep for 7 minutes.
- Optional: Add a dehydrated orange slice, cinnamon stick, or your favorite fall spices.
- Sweeten elderberry tea with your favorite sweetener, or enjoy it as is if you prefer your tea tart!
Elderberry Tea by the Pot
- Add ¼ cup fresh elderberries or 2 tablespoons of dehydrated or freeze-dried elderberries to a teapot. You can also add cinnamon, cloves, cardamom pods, ginger, etc.
- Pour 2 cups of boiling water over them, then simmer for 15 minutes.
- Strain elderberry tea into your cup. Stir elderberry syrup or a low-calorie sweetener into your tea and enjoy!
Notes
-
- When foraging elderberries, be sure to pick only ripe elderberries and avoid any green or unripe berries, which contain a higher amount of alkaloids and glycosides.
- Since we're using dried or frozen elderberries, the toxins have been eliminated in the drying process, so a shorter steeping time is just fine!
- Make sure you remove any elderberry stems or leaves that may have been dried with the berries before steeping. The elderberry stems and leaves actually contain higher concentrations of alkaloids and glycosides than the berries do.
- I recommend trying this as a refreshing iced tea, too!
- For an even more flavorful brew, try steeping elderberries alongside elderflower, chamomile, peppermint, or any other herbs or herbal tea you like.
- One of the benefits of sweetening the tea with elderberry syrup is that you may not need to add additional spices since most of them are already used in my elderberry syrup recipe.
- The more berries you add and the longer you steep the tea, the darker the tea will be!
Nutrition
Serving: 1cup | Calories: 5kcal
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