Pineappleweed & Ginger Iced Tea

PINEAPPLE WEED IS THE BEST

It is SO versatile, tasty and it really does grow everywhere. Like many other super common plants (like plantain) you will find Pineappleweed in areas with a lot of heavy foot traffic and basically the harshest conditions ever! They love drainage and gravel. Keep in mind that if this area is sprayed with pesticides, you probably will not want them. Same goes for areas where pets frequently travel and use the bathroom nearby. The good thing about this plant is that it can be washed.

A couple ways to use Pineappleweed:

  1. You can infuse water with the fresh plant matter and still have a very pleasant flavor. You can dehydrate the stems, leaves and flowers for an even more robust flavor. Once the buds / flowers are cooked, they will become a soft and nice consistency to chew. It makes a fantastic addition to loafs like banana bread, glazes for desserts, simple syrup, and a lovely tea!

PINEAPPLEWEED, LEMONGRASS & GINGER ICED TEA

  1. When it comes to making beverages from plants, you can get your flavors from simple syrups and making tea. I often use both. You will always get a much better outcome of flavor using dehydrated plants (as well as nutritional value), but you can also use fresh plant matter. You can make a hot infusion like you would tea, or a cold infusion and leave it in the fridge overnight. Often when making drinks like this, the base is the syrup and I dilute it with a cooled tea. You can use caffeinated black tea like this recipe calls for, or a tea made from dehydrated plants and hot water.

  2. In this case, my lemongrass was dehydrated and the Pineappleweed and ginger was fresh. When I am making a syrup with Pineappleweed, I pick the buds and the most tender of leaves and discard the stems. If I am making an infusion with water overnight in the fridge, stuff the entire plant in there fresh and then strain it.

  3. For this particular drink, I brewed 4 regular black tea bags to about 8 cups of water earlier in the day, which was now cool.

  4. Simple syrups are a 1:1 ratio with water and sugar, but my focus was on flavor not a thick syrup or sweetness. I only added half of the sugar - 2 cups of sugar to 4 cups of water. I brought a medium pot to boil with 4 cups of water, dehydrated lemongrass, fresh pinappleweed and sugar. I added the ginger later as the syrup was simmering and nearing completion, to taste. Ginger can overwhelm the flavors easily, so add with caution.

  5. Once the syrup was cooler, I planned to finish it with acids (lemon juice) and raw honey. I like it a little less sweet and a bit more tangy. I added 3/4 of a cup of raw honey to the warm syrup to taste.

  6. Lastly, add the syrup and the cooled black tea, plus several lemon/limes worth of juice and some zest. You can choose to leave all the plants in and let it sit in the fridge overnight to further pull out flavours, or strain and serve now.

  7. Serve this beverage cold. For an extra bit of fun, I added some ice cubes with Bunchberries inside. Looks cute and is fun to chew on them as you drink.

Jay Rawding