A Coffee Break with Pine Needle-Ginger Tea

Little over a week ago, I began a specialized diet to help alleviate some acute IBS symptoms. The diet is vegan and also requires omitting coffee and processed sugars. 

Stepping away from the coffee was the most difficult of all the things I needed to abstain from, at least for a while. Finding a replacement for good coffee has been impossible. Thankfully, I’ve found a hot beverage blend I’m sincerely loving. Coffee and ginger beer are my fav beverages, but this one is easily landing in my top-ten fav beverages and it's packed with health benefits.

My new super-drink blend is Pine Needle-Ginger tea and oooooh-la-la! It’s delicious!

This stuff is easy and inexpensive to make, at least I can guarantee that for my version.

You’ll only need organic pine needles, Sugar in the Raw and either a few slices of raw ginger, or pre-made organic ginger tea works well, too, and hot water.​

Image via AS Phillips

​To make, just get some water heating then bruise your pine needles (I hold a clump of needles by one end then, begin twisting them together to the end, to get the well-bruised, so they’ll easier release their oil. Use a few, or several needles to get the taste you prefer. I usually use close to the amount pictured below.

Image via AS Phillips

If I have fresh ginger, I slice up a few discs. You can use as little or as much depending on your taste preference. I slice mine into larger discs to help them stay toward the bottom of the cup when sipping. I can easily get two large servings of tea from each of the amounts I use. 

Put the prepped ingredients into your cup and if it’s your preference, add sweetener. To keep it healthy, I suggest avoiding processed sugars and go with an organic sweetener. 
Sugar in the Raw is my favorite brand of organic sweeteners. Their Stevia is zero cal (per serving) is permitted on the specialized diet I’m doing.​

Image via AS Phillips

​There are different brands of stevia available but Sugar in the Raw is one of my favorite businesses to support, which I’ll tell you all about in an upcoming edition. For my small sweetener needs, I buy stevia in the small single-serve packs at my local Dollar General. There, I can get a box of 30 packets for $2. They carry their own DG brand of stevia, available for only $1, but it has several more ingredients. Sugar in the Raw brand has only two, stevia leaf extract and dextrose.

Image via AS Phillips

Stevia is very sweet and tastes so much like cane sugar, I can’t tell the difference in taste.

Once your ingredients are in your cup, pour over some hot (boiling or close to it) water and let it steep for a few minutes. By the time it’s cool enough to drink, you’ll have some aromatic and delicious tea to enjoy that’s loaded with vitamins C and A and a boatload of antioxidants. ​

Below you'll find a list of great reasons to consider making pine needle-ginger tea a regular treat.

Pine Provisions

• 5 x the vitamin C found in lemons
• Immunity boosters that help ward off illness and infections
• Works as an expectorant that helps loosen chest congestion
• Sore throat relief
• Mental clarity 
• Helps to fight depression, obesity, allergies and hypertension
• Loads of antioxidants​

​Ginger Provisions

• Antioxidants
• Nausea and vertigo prevention 
• Digestive aide
• Kills BAD bacteria
• Promotes GOOD bacteria
• AntiParasitic
• Promotes good circulation and heart health
• An anti-inflammatory and anti-spasmodic
• Ginger’s anti-inflammatory aspects help with gastro-intestinal inflammation, menstrual cramps, nasal and lung congestion (also making it an expectorant) and inflammation due to arthritis. 
• It’ll warm you up!
• Ginger helps keep tummies, fingers and toes warm! This is why ginger snaps make a great snack for our elder-horse in the winter months. It warms her belly then spreads out to the rest of her.
• Fever reducer
• Boosts the effectiveness of other herbs
• Contains Zerumbone which helps diminish allergic reactions and asthma flare-ups

This is just a short-list on ginger. There are more ways ginger provides good health support. To gather further information, click here to get to a great article with a more comprehensive breakdown of the health benefits of ginger.

Now for a few cautions!

• Don’t ingest pine if you’re pregnant!
• Don’t ingest anything made with FLAT pine needles!

Here are some links to help you identify pine that’s safe to eat.

• Foraging, Identifying, Harvesting and Using Pine for Your Wellness
• Foraging for Pine Needles (and other conifer needles)

As for ginger, if you’re allergic to it, don't use it. Not all side-effects are known, but ginger is deemed to be safe for most people.​

Hope you've enjoyed this and found the information helpful for yourself and others you might want to share it with. Your interaction and support of independent bloggers and small businesses is appreciated.

Shalom!