Douglas Fir Tea

When for the first time I heard about the Douglas fir tea, I couldn’t believe it. The high quality of the real tea mostly comes from tea leaves (Camelia sinensis) and herbs that are not too difficult to pick up. Most of the tea plants are like a bonsai with about a meter high which can already live for over hundreds of years. This is because the high quality of tea from the young tea leaves is regularly picked up by people, so the height of the mature tea tree is always dwarf.

How can the Douglas fir tea come from the young needles of the Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) tree? Douglas fir evergreen tree maximum height can reach 120 m with diameter up to 5.5 m and commonly lives more than 500 years. Like the white tea, green tea, or black tea, the best tea leaves come from the mature tea plant; the young needles of the mature Douglas fir tree are the best for making Douglas fir tea. It’s difficult to collect the needle “leaves” from the big and tall Douglas fir tree.

The idea of drinking Douglas fir tea has become nearly lost in the mists of time. Several native North American groups drink tea made from Douglas fir needles. They collect the needles for tea in a specific time for example after the heavy wind wipe the branches to the ground or they wait until the magnificent Douglas fir tree has fallen on the forest floor due to the natural disturbances, then they pick it up the fresh young bright green needles from the branches as needed, seasonal not every day.

Douglas fir needles are high in vitamin C, vitamin A, antioxidants, and electrolytes. It has been said that a cup of herb tea made from Douglas fir needles has more vitamin C than an orange. Coast Salish peoples have used them as a snack or a tea to ward off hunger and thirst, and to improve immunity. First you may nibble the young needles of Douglas fir, you experience a good morning taste like a burst of tangi citrus (bold vitamin C) followed by pine-like flavor (faint wood taste of very light turpentine). If you sip the warm Douglas fir tea, it tastes like lemony forest flavor with oily texture and experience of outdoor or natural pine-like flavor.

The basic way to prepare the Douglas fir tea is simple. Select the young needles and chop it to allow greater access for the hot water to dissolve the nutrients and vitamins from the needles. Bring 4 cups of boiling water and add 1 cup Douglas fir needles and let steep for at least 5-10 minutes. Strain and sweeten if desired before drinking. Please consult your physician if you have any allergies about the natural products.

The photo above is about a fallen Douglas fir tree about 150 years old with around 50 m high and diameter 1 meter. I have collected the young needles after the heavy wind in British Columbia, Autumn 2023. The photo can be zoomed to see details.

-Bintoro Gunadi