How to Make Rosehip Tea

Name: How to Make Rosehip Tea
Prep time: 10 min
Total time: 10 min
Ingredients: 8-10 rosehips (washed); 400 ml boiling water

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Rosehip tea is a delicious, refreshing, fruity wild tea that is super easy to make. It's good for you, and it's free if you can forage the rosehips in your garden or nearby.

Rosehip tea in pot with strainer and rosehips.

What are rosehips?

Rosehips are the fruit of the wild rose. Wild roses, or dog roses are simple single flowers, usually a beautiful pink or white in colour. They are often grown in gardens because as well as the flowers, the deep red rosehips are very attractive.

Health benefits of rosehips

Rosehips are a very good source of vitamin C, and they also contain other beneficial plant compounds and essential fatty acids. Extract of rosehip is sold as a herbal remedy for arthritis as it is a powerful anti inflammatory. If you make your own tea from fresh or frozen rosehips, it will contain more antioxidants than a teabag made with dried fruits. However, you won't be getting the full effect that you'd have from a rosehip extract.

I usually enjoy rosehip tea during the cold season, and I find a warm mug of tea is soothing to a sore throat.

Read more here about the health benefits of rosehip tea.

Harvesting

Rosehips are very quick and easy to harvest. Although I've often read to pick them after the first frost, I usually pick some when they are ripe at the end of September as they often wizen up later. Use pruning shears or snippers to cut the hips off the branches.

If you don't have this type of rose in your garden, rosehips can often be found in hedgerows. Of course, wear gloves so that you don't get pricked by the thorns.

How to store or preserve rosehips

Fresh rosehips will have the most nutrients. But I also freeze them. I simply pop them in a bag in the freezer, and take them out as I need them. Freezing is much easier than drying rosehips, and preserves more of the nutrients.

Ingredients

All you'll need to make a pot of tea is a few rosehips. If you want the tea to be a little sweeter, just add a teaspoon of honey.

Equipment

I think it's best to make rosehip tea in a teapot, as you'll need to strain it. You can use a fine tea strainer. But you could improvise with a heatproof bowl or jug and a sieve.

Place about 8-10 rosehips in the pot and cover with boiling water. Leave for 10 minutes.

I then like the squish the hips with a fork to extract more of the goodness. It's important to strain the tea as the hips are broken open. That way you'll avoid the little hairs inside the fruit that surround the seeds.

You can enjoy rosehip tea hot or chilled in the summer. Make it a little stronger for iced rosehip tea as the flavour will be less pronounced when it is chilled.

Frequently ask questions

How do you process rosehips for tea?

You really don't need to! Just give them a quick rinse if necessary and pop them in the teapot. If you want to enjoy the tea at other times of the year, freeze them.

Can you use any rose hips for tea?

All rosehips are edible and can be used for tea. However, the rosehips from the dog rose are the most flavoursome. The hips on the Japanese Rosa Rugosa are very large and round and a little less concentrated.

Do you need to remove seeds from rosehips for tea?

Yes, it's best to remove the seeds as they may have some irritating hairs on them. The easiest way to do this is to put the rosehips in the pot whole and strain the seeds out with a tea strainer.

Other healthy drinks

Why not try making some other healthy drinks or wild teas at home? Nettle and mint tea and this elderflower tea recipe are very easy to make. Or try some quick elderberry cordial. You might be able to forage most of the ingredients for free!

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