How to Make Pine Needle Tea

Co-authored by Nicole Wilson

Last Updated: April 29, 2025 Approved

Pine needle tea is made from (surprise!) pine trees. It contains significant amounts of vitamin C (up to five times as much as a lemon).^{[1]
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Research source} Moreover, it is refreshing and can serve as a decongestant.^{[2]
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Research source} Here is how to do it.

Ingredients

Approximately 1 cup of water
A bunch of fresh pine needles from a green white pine (Pinus strobus) (see "Tips" and "Warnings" below for collection advice)

Steps

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^{[3]
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Research source} Or, boil the water in a kettle. Use whichever method you're used to.
^{[4]
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Expert Source

Nicole Wilson
Tea Expert

Expert Interview}

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Pour the boiling water into the cup while the pine needles are in it and stir until the color of the pine needles starts to pale.
Also try a squirt of honey or stir in a sugar cube.^{[5]
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Filter the pine needles out with a fork and drink up!
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If you have more time, try this method.
- Chop 1/2 a cup of pine needles finely. Add them to the boiling water in the saucepan.
- Reduce the heat and simmer the tea for 20 minutes. Don't heat any longer as the vitamin C is heat sensitive.^{[6]
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- Remove from the heat and allow to steep for another 20 minutes or overnight.^{[7]
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  Research source} The tea will gain a red tinge. Warm it up to serve or refrigerate if not drinking yet.

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Question

Can I use dry pine needles to make tea? If so, do I use more or less needles?

Community Answer

Yes, you can use dry pine needles. You will need more because the natural juices are sucked out when dried, so to get more flavor you will need to add more needles.

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Question

What can I use to clean pine needles properly?

Community Answer

Just wash them with water and rub them with a cloth to get dirt off.

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Question

What kind of pine tree is used for pine tree tea ?

Community Answer

Most pine trees are safe to make pine needle tea. Some varieties of them are poisonous though, like Yew (Taxus), Norfolk Island Pine (Araucana heterophylla) and Ponderosa Pine (Pinus ponderosa). So check the variety carefully before picking up any needles.

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Tips

The pine needle tea can be sweetened using any sweetener of choice. However, it is recommended that you try the tea first, for provided you've used fresh, young pine needles, it will have its own sweetness.

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Select the pine needles that are youngest as these will be the freshest and have the most flavor and nutrients. They are the ones that look slightly greener than the remaining pine needles, found at the end of each tree branch.

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Suggested steeping times vary anywhere from 5 minutes to half an hour according to whose recipe you read. You might like to try different steeping times to find the amount of time that creates a pine needle tea that you like.

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Warnings

Make sure to clean the needles. Who knows what could be on them. There could be bug eggs, dirty water, etc.

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As with any wild food, be sure to collect from an area free from pollution and avoid any trees with disease.

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Do not consume this tea if pregnant or breastfeeding.^{[8]
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Hemlock trees are not poisonous. The hemlock tree is coniferous tree and a member of the Tsuga genus (family Pinaceae). The poisonous perennial, herbaceous hemlock plants that grow near streams and in fields (e.g. water hemlock, poison hemlock and hemlock water drop-wort) are members of the family Apiaceae. Therefore the two are totally unrelated and bear no physical resemblance to each other either. The reason why hemlock tree came to be named thus is because someone thought that when you crush the needles (it's a pine tree) the smell is similar to that obtained when you crush poisonous hemlock leaves, but that's the only connection.

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