One of life’s supreme joys is pretending you’re capable of living off the land. As a city dweller, we have to take our opportunities to experience that joy (delusional though it may be) as it comes. I’d been meaning to make Sumac Lemonade, or Sumac tea for years, but I’ve done a terribly poor job of scheduling visits to my parents when the sumac drupes were ready for harvesting. Imagine my surprise when I was hanging out with friends in Jersey City last weekend and we happened upon a huge sumac grove while we were walking the dogs. Of course I started snapping the huge red flowery cones right off the trees and stuffing them in leftover plastic sacks. Plans for Sumac Lemonade, I had. You see, I read an article a few years ago that dubbed the Sumac the Lemonade Tree because the tea is a tart, fruity, citrusy tasting drink that goes down like lemonade, but without all the sugar. And that was enough to make me obsessed with checking it out. I mean, a lemonade tree that doesn’t require living in California anymore? Sign me up. And the Sumac Lemonade delivered on the promises. It was really good and not too much trouble as well as an excuse to go out, hike around, and find some sumac groves. Needless to say, I highly recommend heading out and doing a little foraging of your own. And what’s cooler than urban(ish) foraging? Nothing but ice cold Sumac Lemonade.
- 6 drupes of sumac
- water
- quart jars or pitchers
- When we returned home from foraging, and it was time to actually make the tea, I did a little experiment and tried making the lemonade-like sun tea, with regular tap water as well as steeping some in boiling water. I read that the hot water makes the tea too bitter, but I needed to know for sure. So I made 4 quarts in the sun and 1 quart with boiling water. The boiled version was a little bitter, but if you iced it, or added a little water, the bitterness subsided and it had a much more gorgeous red intense color. I ended up mixing them all together, which is actually what I'd recommend if you decide to make it yourself.
- I put 3 drupes in a two quart jar and filled with room temperature water.
- I filled the 1 quart jars with one drupe each.
- I topped two more with room temperature tap water and set them in a sunny window for several hours.
- Finally, I poured boiling water over one 1 quart jar with one drupe.
You can really see the color difference. 
- When it was ready (which is subjective) I strained them all into a large pitcher with a very fine mesh and mixed them all.
- Then I served with ice in blue, green and clear ball jars and brought them to a picnic. Delish.
- Also, from what I've read, the drupes dry really well and can be saved dried to be used year round. I'll let you know how it turns out in a few months.
Here are some instagram photos Marc took of me (with a weirdo filter- sorry!) doing my illicit foraging. This way you know what tree you’re looking for.
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