Sassafras in bloom

I always love the multiple colors you can get on a single bush - taken this afternoon as it started to rain...

Tim, beautiful capture. Have you ever boiled the roots and made tea?

Made tea, are you kidding? I just happen to have the finest recipe for Cloudland Homemade Sassafras Liquor you ever put into your mouth! The stuff is so light you just keep drinking to make sure you are getting it, and soon it is too late! Yup, I grew up making tea and generally pulling up small plants just to sniff - I probably wiped out entire populations of them in some areas! A few years ago I discovered this recipe for the liquor and started making it for Christmas gifts - I think you need to get on the list - it is pure heaven!

As I was reminded while doing the final edit for the new CLOUDLAND JOURNAL ~ BOOK ONE, I broke up with a girlfriend near the beginning of that book (first or second month of the Journal) because she did not like the aroma of sassafras - it was just a bad sign.

I think I need to try the liquor! I used to go around pulling up the poor young sassafras trees just to show people how great the roots smelled. I have backed off some in my old age! I now just show them the three distinct leaves as proof I can identify the tree. It looks like the colors are progressing nicely up your way.

I can say with certainty that I'm a sassafras virgin in every respect. Don't know if I've ever seen one let alone sniffed the roots or drank it steeped as tea or liquor. I'm sooo sheltered ... Perhaps you all should enlighten me!

I believe sassafras tea is one of the "spring tonics" that folks have drank for years - pull the roots in the fall and let them dry over the winter, then make the tea in the spring - spiked with a bit of moonshine for good measure.

I have always loved the leaves - they turn such interesting colors unlike anything else in the forest. It is the logo of the Ozark Society. There is a macro shot of sassafras leaves in the new 2009 Arkansas scenic calendar of mine.

By the way, I discovered a place that sells condensed sassafras juice online - that is where I get the base for my homemade liquor - it would take me a month just to pull up the roots and boil to get what I need. You can also use it just for making tea though I suppose....Come to think of it I need to place a new order - I'm completely out of Cloudland Tonic!

Let's see if I have this right - Sniffing wild roots and drinking "Shine" - Who says the Central States are boring with nothing to do....

I'm with Wayne - I have obviously lead a very sheltered life.

I can remember when I was a kid my Dad, brother, and I would go for a drive in the fall and look for small sassafras saplings to pull for the roots. It's been a while since I've done that, but now that I've been reminded, I may have to pull a few this weekend. Don't think I've ever let them dry over the winter though - the aroma was just so sweet that I couldn't wait that long. Maybe I'll have my wife hide some roots until spring, and try making some of that tonic. It might be a little tough to find any 'shine though. There is a long history of it being made up Richland Creek, however, not far from Ben Hur, and I wouldn't be surprised if there is still some being made...

Yup, the Bur Hur Moonshiner was known far and wide as producing some of the best - very clear. The last batch I got from him was about twenty years ago and it was indeed smooth and sweet.

By the way, once the leaves are off these plants you can normally ID them by their green bark...

I think I need to attend one of Tim's workshops!

Hi Tim a lovely shot. I would love to try the tea sometime. How's the color coming up your way coming along. Must just be spotty.

Okay guys, I hate to rain on your parade but safrole, the oil found in sassafras, has been found to cause liver cancer in laboratory animals. In 1976, the Federal Drug Administration listed it as carcinogenic and officially banned the sale of sassafras tea, roots, and oil. You are dealing in illegal contraband.

Returning after 15 hours on the road and just needed to set you all straight. And, by the way, sassafras blooms in the spring....

Best,
Don

Yup, I've heard all that before - but wonder why they still sell it via mail order? I've been buying it for years that way. I heard the other day that too much water can kill you too (if you get in over your head!)...I guess if I ever develop into a lab rat I might better steer away from this stuff...

I sometimes use the term "bloom" to mean fall color - we speak that way up here on Cave Mountain don't ya know!

By the way, here is the link to where you can buy the concentrate online - Pappy's Sassafras Tea - they won't ship the stuff to lab rats though...

By the way #2, they claim this concentrate is "safrole free" - and I read that is the stuff that gives the rats a headache, so I guess this stuff is OK after all! Of course, if you drink too much Cloudland Sassafras Liquor you may end up with a headache....

I just figured that when you mixed the safrole with the 'shine, the carcinogins were killed instantly. After a couple of belts of the liquour who would care anyway!