What’s mine?
When my gang gets sick I break out the Buck Tea!
Sam the Buck
Doesn’t sound very herbal?
It is, and I’ll give you the easy recipe. It’s really a sort of hot,spicy lemony herb tea. Think of it as Granny’s herbal cold remedy.
So, why do we call it Buck Tea?
Many years ago my older kids gave it that name while trying to terrorize the younger kids.
With owning goats and knowing the type of nasty behaviors that goat bucks engage in, you’d have been terrorized too. As soon as someone felt rotten, or started with a cough or runny nose I made a batch of tea up. The kid’s conversations usually went something like this:
“Eeuuww! Now YOU have to drink Buck Tea“!
This was always followed by sobs,weeping, mild hysteria, and coughhacksniffsniff…
Thankfully we’ve all outgrown that stage.
All you need to make your own Buck Tea is:
A lemon.
A Lemon
Dried Sage -Salvia officinalis:
Dried Sage
and some Cayenne Pepper
Cayenne Pepper Powder
So here’s how it goes-
You can make a small batch,or a big one. I’ve listed approximate amounts of each ingredient. I do full pots of the stuff around here, but then-I have everyone drink it 
For a Mug:
1 TB dried sage
a wedge of lemon
Shake of cayenne
Honey or Stevia to sweeten
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For a jar…
1/2 cup dried sage
1/2 or whole lemon (more cuts the sage flavor and makes it more lemony.
Dash or two..or three of Cayenne pepper
Honey or Stevia to sweeten your cup
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For a pot (usually a 2-3 quart pot)
Sage in the Pot
3/4 to 1 cup dried sage
1 or 2 lemons. I use two for a full pot,I like the lemon flavor.
Shakeshakeshakeshake your Cayenne.
You want the recipe hot enough to clear sinuses, but not so spicy that you set your mouth on fire.
The Official How To for Mugs and Jars:
Buck Tea in a Jar
Put sage into jar (or a strainer or tea ball) if using a mug.
Heat water to just boiling and pour hot water into mug, or jar.You can also be smart and lazy and just microwave the water in your mug or jar.
With a tea ball- load it up with sage, drop it in the hot water and bounce it up and down a lot to wet the sage.
In a jar you will mix the loose sage into the hot water. It will not want to mix in and will tend to float. Just keep pushing it down with a spoon. Within a minute or so it will start to absorb the water and settle down nicely. Squeeze in the lemon juice and toss the lemon rind into the jar. Really. Then poke it down.
Add the Cayenne and mix it. Let site for at least 15 minutes, longer if possible.
If the taste is too strong, add some water to your mug. Everyone here does that-except me.
Strain.
Sweeten to taste.
Straining-Buck-Tea
For Pots:
Add your sage to the pot, and then add about 5 or 6 times the water…so 1 cup of sage to 5 or 6 cups of water.
Add your cut lemons-squeezing in the juice and tossing the rinds into the pot.
Heat to almost boiling and add your Cayenne. Turn off heat,cover and let sit as long as possible before drinking-but 15 minutes anyway.
Strain
Sweeten to taste and water down if needed.
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You can drink this herbal cold remedy through out the day whenever you feel a cold coming on-which is why I make big batches of it. We found when you are first feeling ill and begin drinking Buck Tea, it really seems to knock out or slow down a virus.
You can also freeze Buck Tea!
I use small containers-one serving size each- and keep a few on hand. It saves time when someone needs it and I don’t have time to mix up a batch. Simply thaw,heat, and drink!
* This recipe is NOT set in stone! If you want more lemon, use it! More Cayenne? OK!
If you try it, I hope this recipe helps you and your family feel better.
I’d love to hear about it-unless you have some horrible reaction to lemons or something.
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
So how can I dry sage? Silly question I’m sure, but I’m a silly gal! Do you just cut off a hunk and hang it upside down till it’s dry, or do you use a dehydrator? Then how do you store it? Thanks! Can’t wait till somebody gets sick so we can try this!
hehehe
Well you can safely take about 1/3 of the plant off at a time during the growing season, but I usually don’t take that much…it takes awhile to recover. I harvest outer and top leaves from plants.
You can hang it upside down in bunches or lay it out on a sheet to dry if you have the room. Since it has those rather thick leaves it does take a little longer to dry than some other herbs.
Once it’s dried I crumble it by rubbing the leaves off the stems, store it in a ziplock bag and pop it in the freezer* for a week or two. This will take care of any little buglets (technical term
)or eggs of buglets that hitched a ride on the undersides of leaves. Sage generally doesn’t have much of a buglet problem though.
When that’s done the Sage goes into labeled jars and is tucked away from light and heat.
*The dried Sage can be used right away, I just do the drying and freezing protocol out of longtime habit.
Does that help?
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