Rowan Berry Tea

You may be familiar with rowans—trees or shrubs with beautiful orange and red-coloured berries seen in wildlife areas, parks, and gardens each autumn. But did you know those pretty berries are edible? Read on to discover how you can make and enjoy Rowan Berry Tea and the natural health benefits yourself!

Hello everyone! I hope you are doing well, and that this fall has been treating you well.

And today I am excited to share with you a recipe for berries that many of you probably did not know that they were edible.

What Are Rowans?

Rowans are shrubs or trees in the genus Sorbus, part of the rose family Rosaceae. In North America, especially in Newfoundland and Labrador, you might hear them called dogberry, referring to the American Mountain-ash. Though often ornamental, their berries are edible.

Are Rowan Berries Edible?

If you Google this, you’ll find many say “no,” partly because raw berries are bitter and unpalatable. However, raw berries contain parasorbic acid and cyanogenic glycosides, compounds common in related plants like cherries and almonds.

Both compounds have toxins that may impact health. Parasorbic acid can cause indigestion or kidney damage, while the glycoside in seeds may release cyanide, leading to breathing problems, dizziness, or worse (e.g., respiratory system failure or death) if eaten in large quantity.

Health Benefits and Side Effects

Rowan berries are a nutritious food, supporting immune health, metabolism, and digestion. They are high in vitamin C and antioxidants and could even treat certain conditions like rheumatism or kidney diseases (as they possess diuretic properties). Berries are often use in cosmetic products as they properties help brighten and firm the skin.

Raw berries, however, have harmful compounds and must not be consumed raw. And as always, you should do your research and consult with your physician to determine whether rowan berries are suitable for you; they are not recommended for certain conditions, such as kidney issues, to name one.

How to Make Rowan Berries Safe to Eat?

Good news: you can easily make rowan berries safe to eat.

• Don’t consume the seeds.
• Cooking denatures the glycosides, making the fruit completely safe to eat.
• Freezing breaks down parasorbic acid into safe sorbic acid and mellows the astringent flavour.

They are also edible raw in small amounts, though few would eat many at once due to their strong bitterness, which varies by variety.

How to Reduce the Bitterness in Rowan Berries?

The tricky part is to wait as long as possible before picking the berries. While they become red or orange sometime in mid-August, you should wait until September or longer. As they ripen, their bitter taste also diminishes. Indeed, it is often considered that they are at their best just after the first frost. However, you can have a huge competition – birds – so sometimes you can’t wait.

A trick is to freeze freshly picked berries overnight to reduce bitterness.

What is the Taste of Rowan Berries?

As mentioned earlier, raw rowan berries have a unique taste profile – bitter and astringent. Cooked or frozen, they transform into a fruitier, more pleasant taste. Their tangy, slightly bitter profile is often compared to cranberries, with subtle citrus undertones.

When made into jams or jellies with sugar and other fruits, such as apples, quinces, pears or oranges, the flavor becomes a balanced mix of sweet, tangy, and subtly bitter, creating a unique, complex, and exciting taste experience. I find that their flavour remind me the taste of a bitter orange marmalade.

How to Make Rowan Berry Tea

How to make this Rowan Berry Tea? That’s a piece of cake. Or a cup of tea? It’s a breeze to make anyway!

First, make sure you freeze the berries overnight, even if they are not too bitter – to neutralize the harmful components and make them perfectly healthy to eat.

Then combine the berries in a small saucepan with water, between 1 and 2 tablespoons of berries for each cup of water. Simmer for a few minutes to infuse the water; you can help by mashing the berries. Lastly, be sure to sweeten it to your liking; it pairs well with honey.

And if you like this Rowan berry tea, try this Spruce Tea (Christmas Tea) and Sea Buckthorn Tea Recipe (Seaberry Tea).

Ingredients for Rowan Berry Tea and Possible Additions

• Rowan Berries – Choose ripe, bright berries from forests, away from roads. Freeze overnight to reduce bitterness and neutralize any harmful effects.
• Water.
• Honey – Or other sweetener of your choice.

Honey and orange juice go perfectly with rowan berries and offset the bitterness. Other great ingredients to infuse tea would be spices such as cinnamon and star anise, slices of apple, and mint. Alternatively, you can use this Rowan Berry Syrup in place of frozen berries.

More Recipes with Rowan Berries

• Orange Rowan Berry Jam
• Rowan Berry Apple Jam
• Rowan Berry Shortbread Cookies
• Rowan Berry Cocktail (Halloween Cocktail Recipe)
• Rowan Berry Syrup (And How to Make Rowan Berries Less Bitter!)

I hope you like this Rowan Berry Tea, and you will give it a try soon. If you try it, let me know in this post or send me an Instagram message or share your photos adding the hashtag #havocinthekitchen.

Cheers!

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Rowan Berry Tea

Recipe by Ben | Havocinthekitchen

0.0 from 0 votes

Course: Drinks, Tea

Servings

1

servings

Cooking time

20

minutes

Prep time (freezing)

8 hours

Enjoy this Rowan Berry Tea with honey and orange – a tasty hot drink with a pleasantly bitter taste. Perfect for the cold seasons of the year!

Cook Mode

Keep the screen of your device on

Ingredients

• 1 cup (240 ml.) of water

• 1 to 2 tbsp. rowan berries

• 1-2 tbsp (15 – 30 ml.) orange juice

• few slices of orange

• honey, to taste

• optional ingredients: cinnamon stick, star anise sliced apple

Directions

• First you need to pick rowan berries; cut clusters of berries from trees and knock to remove insects, then wash and pick off stems. When foraging, always go for the bright red or orange berries as these are ripe and will come away from the little twigs easily. Also, collect them in the forested areas far from roads.
• Freeze the berries overnight or up to 24 hours. This step will reduce the bitterness as well as neutralize harmful parasorbic acid and the cyanogenic glycoside.
• Place the frozen berries in a small saucepan along with a cup of water and orange juice (and spices if using). I would suggest using 2 tablespoons of berries and then dilute with more water, if it’s too bitter to your liking.
• Bring the mixture to a delicate boil, then reduce heat, cover, and let simmer about 7-10 minutes, lightly mashing the berries to help them burst. Add the honey to taste orange slices. Try and add more water, if the taste is too strong to you. Turn off the heat and let the tea steep for about 10 minutes and enjoy!

Ben | Havocinthekitchen

Hi – I’m Ben, a blogger, recipe developer, and food photographer. I’m glad you’re here! I hope you will enjoy hundreds of delicious recipes and a pinch of havoc in the kitchen.