Is it good? There are still a few trees surviving around here. It would be interesting to try. Although I hate to kill one. They are one of the few trees that turn a pretty red orange in the fall, and they seem to be dying out. (Maybe it's the goats that did it. )
No, but I worked with a few old-timers, who did, using it as a Spring tonic. Its been said that it thins your blood.
My cousin used to cut small sassafras limbs and chew on them all the time. Never did much for me. Maybe I should give it another try. I bet she had very thin blood. lol
We have sassafras’s trees, too, and I have tried making the tea a few times. I totally LOVE the smell of sassafras ! ! You do not have to kill the whole tree, you just need to “confiscate” a few of the roots. Since the trees spread by the roots, you can sometimes get the runners between the old tree and the new sprouts. Also, Ina used to have the sassafras trees, and she explained to me that you can also use the small branches. If you trim those off, and ct them into short pieces and boil them, it also makes tea. Another thing that sassafras trees are good for is the leaves, which are used to make file’ for gumbo. I have done that, and it is easy to dry the leaves, and then I just ground them in my blender until they were almost a powder. I made mine from green leaves; but you can also make it from the yellow ones when they are falling in the fall, from what I have read.
As a kid I did. Thought it good. Here's an article by Dr WieL.i https://www.drweil.com/diet-nutrition/food-safety/sassafras-tea-safety/ You may have already read it.
Thanks, Bill. Hadn't seen it. Maybe I need some... ... as a tonic to “purify the blood of winter stagnation.”
I made sassafras tea every spring as a kid. It was one of the highlights of the early spring season. We often added a little sugar or honey to make it better, but it was very good just plain. Early spring camp outs always involved a pot of tea.
We ad it every year as a kid. We have lots of sassafras trees. I'll try to remember to dig some roots.
Texian Boys (Lyrics) "Louisiana girls, come and listen to my noise Don't go marry those Texian boys; For if you do, your fortune will be , Johnny cake and venison and sassafras tea Johnny cake and venison and sassafras tea."
The Englishman, Martin Pring (1580–1626) explored the coasts of Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts, and in April of 1603 led his most famous expedition to the region -- searching for Sassafras (or "ague tree"), then considered an elixir of life with great medicinal value in treating fevers. Finding none, he continued down the coast. Pring was a careful mapmaker and a diarist, and his writings, like those of John Smith, would help promote interest in exploring the New England region. https://livefreeanddraw.com/portfolio/1603-journal-of-martin-pring/ Story Continued....