Sumac "Lemonade"

MOM AND I EACH HAD A SIDECAR, and then we started talking crazy. We started talking about making something to drink that was not alcoholic. (I noticed that it's much easier to talk of such things while there is ice chilling the shaker for round two.)

Mom started talking about that funny tree in the backyard, the one with branches like velvety deer antlers. With some research, she found that the tree is a Sumac and the berries growing from the branches -- soft, mauve buds grouped like tiny bunches of grapes -- can be used to make tea.

From Bradford Angier's Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants:

Sumac "lemonade" is just the thing to take the edges off a hard afternoon. Pick over a generous handful of the red berries, drop them into a pan and mash them slightly, cover with boiling water, and allow to steep away from any heat until this is well colored. Then strain through two thicknesses of cloth to remove the fine hairs.


Sweeten to taste, then serve the so-called Indian lemonade hot or cold. The berries are best for this in late summer and early fall. Incidentally, the fruit of the staghorn sumac is less tart than that from the other similar edibles.

Some Indian tribes like this acidic drink so much that they dried the small, one-seeded berries and stored them for winter use. Many colonists followed suit.

Surprisingly, the taste wasn't as earthy as I thought it would be. It was tangy and tart, but it didn't have a strong bite to it -- more of a nip. We could definitely see how this would have been a treat for people living on the plains in the middle of winter.

Then we added some sugar.
And then we added brandy. And lime juice.

And, oh dear, it needs a bit of Triple Sec, don't you think?

Now my mom and I are hooked.