Needle tea from spruce and pine – and why yew is deadly

Needles contain essential oils, which make the typical forest smell, and vitamin C. Hot water dissolves these substances out of the needles. Chopping increases the surface, so the tea becomes stronger. A lid keeps the aroma in the mug instead of letting it escape with the steam.

A rolling boil is not good for the tea: the oils evaporate faster, and vitamin C is sensitive to heat. That is why you boil the water first – so it is safe – and then pour it over after letting it cool briefly. This way you get clean water and still an aromatic tea.

The tea provides practically no calories. It is a warm, tasty drink that lifts your spirits and helps you drink enough. Exactly how much vitamin C is in it depends on the tree, the season and the preparation – so there is no reliable figure.

Everything depends on telling the trees apart reliably. Spruce has sharp, prickly needles that stand all round the twig, each sitting on a small brown peg; its cones hang down. Scots pine has long needles that always come in pairs from a small sheath. You feel and see both features at the same time – that makes them reliable.

You learn fir as a comparison: flat, soft needles with a blunt or notched tip and two white stripes underneath, upright cones. Yew also has flat, soft needles, but underneath only light green with no white stripes, no cones and red cups in late summer. If you have flat needles in front of you, it is best to leave that tree out of your tea altogether.

Only take needles from trees in the woods, not from hedges and ornamental trees in gardens, parks or cemeteries. Yews, thujas or exotic species that can be poisonous often grow there. And always take only a little from each tree.

Yew is highly poisonous to people and many animals. The poison acts on the heart, and poisoning can quickly become life-threatening. If someone has taken yew needles or tea made from them, call the emergency number at once (112, or 144 in Austria) and inform the poison centre.

With spruce and pine, too, keep it moderate: one or two cups a day. Pregnant women should go without, because some sources advise against it, and anyone with kidney disease or taking medication should ask a doctor first. Small children get only a mild, diluted tea, if any.

The tea does not make bad water safe. If you take water from a stream, boil it properly first or treat it another way. Only then let it cool briefly and pour it over the needles.

Needle tea is ideal on cold evenings in camp, on winter trips and whenever you only have water with you and need something warm. It also helps you drink more when cold water is no fun. And it is good practice in looking closely at trees.

It makes no sense as food or as medicine. It replaces neither food nor clean drinking water, and it does not cure diseases. If you are not sure about a tree, drink plain hot water instead – it warms you just as well.

In spring spruces put out light-green, soft tips. They taste milder and can be used for tea or, in small amounts, raw. But never take the tips of young saplings, because that injures the tree just as it is trying to grow upwards.

Bushcraft books describe needle tea as an old camp drink. Rules still apply in the woods: trees belong to someone, and breaking off branches is usually not allowed. A few needles from a low twig are different from a torn-off branch – ask if in doubt.