Can You Make A Tea From Dried Hawthorn Berries – Hawthorn flowers and leaves offer many gifts, especially to nourish our hearts. In this video I share the benefits of hawthorn flowers and leaves and how you can best work with this plant to support your cardiovascular system.
Hello! I am Rosalie de la Forret, herbalist, teacher and best-selling herbal author. I am here to share reliable herbal knowledge so that you can get the best results while using herbs for your health.
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Can You Make A Tea From Dried Hawthorn Berries
Hawthorn bushes were some of the most popular plants along the hedge. Sometimes they grow close to the stones, other times they move far away from the original stone fence. I walked along that hedge for miles and miles. I was captivated by the hawthorn’s profusion of red berries, fine and textured branches, and many haphazard spines.
Dried Crataegus Curvisepala Crataegus Monogyna, Crataegus Rhipidophylla Known As Common Hawthorn Or Single Seeded Hawthorn Berries Herbal Tea Stock Photo
I snapped photo after photo, thinking to myself, “What a beautiful world we live in with such an abundance of heart medicine growing right outside people’s front doors.”
In European traditions, Hawthorne is steeped in mystery and folklore. In spring its branches are covered with white to pink flowers that attract numerous pollinators. The fragrance of flowers has been described as everything from death and decay to the divine and sensual.
Depending on the location, the hawthorn is most often found in bloom from late April to May, and has long been associated with Beltane, the cross-quarters holiday between the spring equinox and summer solstice. I live in northern latitudes and zone 4 and this beautiful tree in my backyard blooms only in mid-May.
Hawthorn is easily my favorite herb for the heart. And while we can classify hawthorn with a handful of medicinal herbal actions, such as astringent, antispasmodic, cardiotonic, diuretic, hypotensive, … a better understanding is that hawthorn nourishes and protects the heart. As a result, the properties of hawthorn benefit various heart related problems.
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Often in Western herbalism we focus on berries, which ripen in the fall. But the leaves and flowers are also full of medicinal benefits.
Large long-term and short-term studies have shown that hawthorn offers many benefits for people who already have mild to moderate heart disease. Studies have specifically shown improvements in ankle swelling, normal cardiac performance, lowering blood pressure, cholesterol, fatigue, pain with increased exertion, and palpitations.
How does hawthorn provide so many benefits for the heart? Like most herbs, hawthorn works in many ways, some of which we may never understand. Here’s what we know.
Most heart disease in the Western world is related to chronic inflammation. Regular consumption of herbs and foods high in these flavonoids can protect the heart from chronic inflammation and oxidative stress.
Health Benefits Of Hawthorn Tea
More than 280 species of hawthorn trees grow worldwide. The most commonly used species are
A study published in January of 2020 looked at 15 different species of hawthorn plants growing around the world to determine their levels of flavonoids and triterpenes. The study concluded that all fifteen species had similar amounts of these beneficial nutrients.
Hawthorn is native to parts of Europe, Asia, North America and Africa. They are widely distributed throughout the earth.
Hawthorn can grow as a shrub or tree reaching 15 to 45 feet tall. The tree behind me is maybe 15 feet tall and has been here for forty years.
Organic Wild Hawthorn Leaf And Flower
The bark and twigs are brown and the wood is very hard. It was historically valued for making various tools.
The tree has many thorns that are about 1/2 inch to 1 inch long and are found along the branches.
Flowers bloom from April to June depending on location. As is characteristic of the rose family, the flowers have five white petals and many stamens. The flowers grow in clusters and are about 1 cm in diameter.
A hawthorn tree in bloom is a beautiful sight! I love this time of year! I don’t know if you can hear all the birds singing around me, but it’s so beautiful to hear! A lot of flowers bloom even off camera.
Dried Hawthorn Berry Coolberry Gluten Free Healthy Herbal Tea 50g
There are huge lilac bushes that are in full bloom right now and the scent is delightful! I wish you were here with me to see and smell it all!
Once the hawthorn blooms, it keeps on giving. The berries (or hass) ripen in late summer to deep red in autumn.
Hawthorn leaves, flowers and berries can be used medicinally. All three are commonly used as heart medicines, and they can be prepared separately or in combination with each other.
This article focuses on the leaves and flowers and later in the year I will make a video specifically for the berries.
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The leaves and flowers make a great tea or nourishing herbal infusion and are remarkably astringent. Leaves and flowers can also be extracted in alcohol.
To forage your own hawthorn leaves and flowers, pick a few flowers and leaves here and there from a tree. Your goal is to pretend you were never there. In other words, don’t snap a branch! I was taught to cut flowers with pink stamens because they are the freshest flowers.
You will quickly learn to watch out for thorns while harvesting! You cannot harvest this plant without a lot of presence and attention.
Another way to harvest leaves and flowers is to carefully prune the tree, keeping in mind its health, and then harvest the leaves and flowers from the cut branches. If you are new to pruning, find guides on how to prune fruit trees.
Organic Hawthorn Berry (freeze Dried)
If you don’t forage your own leaves and flowers, I recommend buying them in bulk from a trusted herb supplier.
A study was published in 2019 on the best practices for making hawthorn flower and leaf medicines. Researchers have compared dry vs. Fresh hawthorn, leaves vs. They also looked at the flowers, and compared different extraction methods to see which was the most potent. All of these methods were tested to see which contained the most nutrients. This study was so in depth and interesting! I wish we had a study like this for all my favorite plants!
Of all the extraction methods tested, a simple tea or infusion was found to be the easiest and best way to work with hawthorn medicine. I liked it! I love tea because it’s easy to make, can be delicious, and is a wonderful way to immerse yourself in the world of plants. I also love that this study shows that you don’t need to buy expensive supplements to get the best benefits with hawthorn!
They also showed that flowers and leaves contain different and complementary nutrients, so it’s a good idea to work with both.
Natural Sour Sweet Dried Hawthorn Berry Fruit Slice Tea
They also tested several different ways of making hawthorn tea. They concluded that the most important practice for enhancing nutrient extraction was grinding the dried plants. They recommend doing this before making the tea, otherwise the flowers and leaves can oxidize, which is not good.
“Clearly, grinding the dried plant is the most important parameter to maximize extraction yield for all bulk components.”
With the results of that study in mind, I recommend you make your own hawthorn flower and leaf tea.
Measure 3 grams of hawthorn flowers and leaves using a kitchen scale to give you the exact amount.
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Grind the dried leaves and flowers using a spice grinder reserved for herbs. You don’t want to use your coffee grinder because your tea will be like coffee and vice versa. As mentioned earlier you want to grind your hawthorn before each cup of tea.
Place the hawthorn herb in a French press or other glass container with a handle and pour out the spout.
Cover and let sit for 3-10 minutes. The researchers said that soaking for more than 3 minutes is not necessary, but soaking for ten minutes is fine.
Strain the flowers and leaves which can now be composted. If there are still many small pieces left in the water, you can strain the tea through cheesecloth or a nut milk bag. Some of you may be thinking of tea bags, but researchers say that bags hinder the extraction process and it’s better to let the herbs float freely in the water.
Starwest Botanicals, Organic Hawthorn Berries, 1 Lb (453.6 G)
This preparation is a powerful way to nourish your heart! I also like to add other herbs for flavor. A bit of lemon verbena is a favorite. But any aromatic plant, such as mint, will work great.
If you would like a printable recipe card for this Hawthorn Flower and Leaf Tea recipe, sign up above to download your free copy.
There are also other helpful links such as where you can buy Hawthorn Herb as well as both of my books.
If you enjoyed this article on the benefits of hawthorn flowers and leaves and you value reliable herbal information, I hope you’ll stick around! The best way to get started is to subscribe to my newsletter so you can be the first to receive my best herbal insights and recipes.
Dried Hawthorn Slices As Tea On The Background Stock Photos
And if you want to know more about Hawthorne in general,