Pineapple weed grows just about anywhere, and makes an exceptionally delightful tea

KEN KORCZAK:

It is said that “weed” is a word for plant for which no good use has yet been found. Perhaps no truer words were spoken of any natural plant than of pineapple weed. Indeed, this plant is no weed at all. Pineapple weed, as it names implies, can be brewed to make an amazingly delicate tea which carries just the faintest hint of pineapple tang.

The wonderful thing about pineapple weed is that it grows where almost no other plant wants to grow: Between sidewalk cracks, on seemingly sterile gravel roads or driveways, in bleak waste areas. The pineapple weed is incredibly hearty and mysteriously undemanding. It asks little, yet gives much.

Pineapple weed is a close cousin of chamomile, one of the most popular of all herbal teas. To make tea from pineapple weed, cut off the small bud-like flower heads and place a handful in a cup of water. Boil for five minutes. I chose to strain the water through a coffee filter to produce a clear, green-golden tea.

My impression of pineapple weed tea:

Truly remarkable! Pineapple weed tea is an excellence tea! I easily judge this tea better than any other natural herbal tea one might purchase off the shelf. The flavor is light -- the opposite of overpowering or heavy.

For me, the slight sweetness of the taste that is profoundly difficult to describe. I’m not sure if I would describe it as pineapple-like. It’s more subtle and delicate than that. There is an amazing clean airy quality to the sweetness.

This tea also has a tea-like background taste. That is, drinking this gives you the impression that you are drinking a beverage that could be considered a “true tea.”

I decided to add a bit of sugar and just a tiny squirt of lemon to my second cup -- and -- WOW! This resulted in a truly fabulous tea drinking experience! Excellent, excellent! This wild weed tea is so good, I can’t believe that millions of people don’t drink it all the time, every day. It’s free and growing everywhere. What an amazing gift from Mother Nature, right beneath our noses every day -- and just about no matter where you live, urban or rural area.”

On a 1 to 10 scale, I give pineapple weed tea an unqualified 10.

Notes: I remember from childhood my Uncle Stanley said that his Polish immigrant parents, my grandparents, occasionally brewed pineapple weed to make a beverage they called Romonyek. (That is a phonetic spelling. Pronounce it ro-MON-yek, and roll the “r”)

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