Red Raspberry Leaf is traditionally known in the midwifery sphere as a uterine tonic herb. Tonic herbs have the great effect of being generally good for you with minimal risk factors involved. Uterine tonics are a great way to nourish the womb during pregnancy, and to give it strength for the act of childbirth. Here’s a nice blog post about red raspberry leaf. I started drinking raspberry leaf at the beginning of the year for menstrual cramps. And, interestingly, my cramps this year have been significantly less severe: except during the month of June when I was traveling and didn’t take my raspberry with me! So, I think it’s working. I was inspired to start drinking the infusion while reading Robin Rose Bennett’s book, “The Gift of Healing Herbs.” She talks about drinking the tea after ovulation each month. As my cycle has been corresponding pretty closely to the moon these days, it turns out that my raspberry leaf tea has become my waning moon brew. The most basic infusion method looks like this:
Red Raspberry Leaf Infusion
Pour 1 Quart of Boiling hot water over 1 oz of raspberry leaf (about 1 c). Let the brew steep for about 8 hours, or overnight. Strain and consume. Store unfinished infusion in the fridge.
red raspberry: image from botanical.com
The taste of Raspberry Leaf infusion alone is quite astringent, so you may find that you want to reduce the amount of herb in your infusion. The resulting brew will be less potent, of course, but if you drink more of it, you will still get the good stuff into you. Another way to dilute the astringency of red raspberry leaf is to make it into a mixture. Lately, I’ve been into mixing red raspberry leaf, nettles, and mugwort together, 1/3 cups of each in a quart infusion. Nettles works kind of a like a general multivitamin tonic. I drink this frequently anytime, anywhere. Mugwort is a bitter herb, also, so you may or may not like this added to your brew for taste. As Bennett, says, though, “mugwort moves energy in the uterus and can be especially helpful for women with clots. Be aware, however, that it may increase the menstrual flow as it does this. (p. 317).” So, use mugwort in your brew only if you find it helpful for your particular situation.
I often drink the straight infusion, or the infusion watered down, but sometimes a little extra oomph is fun. Last month I discovered a delightful way to stir things up and make them into a probiotic ferment, by adding 1/3 infusion, 1/3 maple water, and 1/3 plain tibicos. I bottled them together, and left them at room temp for a while so that the tibicos could process and ferments some of the sugars from the maple water and build up some bubbles. Here is the recipe below:
Waning Moon Brew
1. Prepare plain/ brown-sugar tibicos:
- Fill a quart-sized jar with 1/4c of brown sugar, 1/4 cup of water kefir grains, and filtered water. Mix well to dissolve the sugar.
- Cover with a cloth to prevent dust and flies from entering, and stir the mixture a couple times a day, for approximately two days, or until the brew is sour enough for your liking. The longer you ferment, the less sweet it will be.
2. Prepare your infusion:
- In another quart sized jar, put 1/3 cups each of dried nettle leaf, red raspberry leaf, and mugwort. Pour boiling water over the herbs and let them infuse overnight, or about 8 hours. Strain the herbs from the infusion, squeezing them well to extract all of their good stuff.
3. Mix your plain tibicos, your herbal infusion, and 1 quart of either coconut water or maple water.
4. Bottle the mixture into airtight bottles and leave at room temperature until they have built up some fizz. BE CAREFUL not to leave them too long, or you can create a bomb! See this post. “Burping” your bottles periodically can help to prevent too much gas pressure build-up.
5. Refrigerate your brew, and consume!
mugwort: image from botanical.com
