Spiceberry Spice Latte Recipe & Other Spicebush Goodness

Tis the season . . . for spicy lattes! As the temps drop and a chill fills the air, there's nothing better than a cozy sweater, a bowl of nourishing soup and a warming beverage. Why have a pumpkin spice latte, filled with tons of sugar and who knows what in the ingredients list, when you can create your own tastier, foraged latte with a much cooler name and health-supporting ingredients practically for free? 

I call the fire engine red berries of the Spicebush (Lindera benzoin), "spiceberries," mostly cuz it sounds cool. They are easy to harvest, if you can find them at exactly the right time (that bright red is important), right around the autumn equinox (now) in Appalachia. Though it can take awhile to harvest plenty, because they're small. The most important point of processing them, is to do it quickly! They have a lot of volatile oils, meaning they go rancid super fast.

It's hard to dry them enough without a dehydrator, but you could try it in an oven on the lowest setting. Dry them until they are dark red to black, feel completely dry all the way through, and you can bite through them easily. They should taste like allspice, which they were substituted for way back in the day when the spice trade was difficult. Though I'm sure native folks were aware of them much before that. 

Here's my recipe for Spiceberry Spice:

Be aware that the taste of spice berries is strong. Some people are more sensitive to it than others. Start with a smaller amount first, if you wish. Also, feel free to change the amounts of any of the other spices to your personal taste.

Ingredients

2 Tbsp* powdered spicebush berries
2 tsp powdered cloves
2 tsp powdered nutmeg
2 tsp powdered cinnamon
2 tsp powdered ginger

Simply mix together and pour into a spice jar with a shaker lid.

It seems spiceberries go rancid faster once they are powdered, so I usually don't make any bigger batches than this for personal use. 

I'll let ya in on the secret of how I make my lattes. Be aware, every forager I know, including myself, is a foodie! 

1. Make cold brew coffee (plenty of recipes on the internet). For a 12 ounce latte, I use 8 ounces of cold brewed coffee.
2. Heat the coffee if you want. I love the taste of cold brew, but like it hot.
3. Add a decent dash of your Spiceberry Spice to 4 ounces of warmed milk of your choice (coconut is especially yummy), realizing that you might have to try some different kinds of milks or brands because some froth easier than others.
4. Add some sweetener, if desired. A teaspoon of local honey is my preference.
5. Froth to your heart's content! My inexpensive workaround for this is an immersion blender (possibly my favorite kitchen tool).
6. Pour the milk on top of the coffee slowly. 
7. Add a small sprinkle of Spiceberry Spice on top to make it fancy! 
8. Enjoy!​
   

This is also an awesome spice for roasted squash or pumpkin/squash soup.
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Let me know what you think in the comments below!

Spicebush shrub

Other fun things to do with spicebush:

• Trim the twigs and dry them for a tasty simmered warming tea all winter long.
• I don't like the taste of the leaves as much as the twigs, so I like to dry them and add them to a pot of water on the kitchen stove or wood stove for some natural aromatics to keep my respiratory system moisturized during the dry indoor days. 

Wanna learn more about spicebush? Check out my friend and co-founder of our Sassafras Appalachian School of Plantcraft (2020 applications now being accepted, hint hint) Becky Beyer's blog all about it (on her website, Blood and Spicebush). Then, go harvest some yourself, of course making sure you have 100% positive ID, or get someone like me to show you. 

Other cool tidbits about spicebush:

• It's in the same family as sassafras (Lauraceae, or Bay Laurel, like bay leaf) and their flowers look pretty identical. 
• Both sassafras and spicebush are host plants for the native spicebush swallowtail butterfly. (Check it out; they're gorgeous!)
• The plants are male or female. So only the females get berries.

​Happy Foraging!
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