Wild Clover Tea

If you could taste a summer meadow in bloom, it would taste like wild clover tea. One of my favorite foraged drinks to make in the summer, it's delicate, refreshing, and delicious hot or served over ice. The artistry here is understanding the different species of clover in your area and their individual flavors. Today I'll walk you through how I make it.

This week I took a few days to get away at Nordly's near Frederic Wi. It's a beautiful getaway situated on 140 acres of private land with manicured trails and all the trimmings a forager could ask for.

I'd planned to proofread my next book manuscript for what seems like the tenth time, but after driving up and seeing meadows of aromatic prairie flowers I decided to play in the woods and make wild teas for the next two days instead. I also cut a bunch of clover to bring home for baking with a pork roast in parchment like the French do with Hay.

Different Types of Clover

For the most floral and aromatic tea we need to discuss a few different species of clovers. There's a number of them and each type has a slightly different taste. In the recipe I use four different varieties, but there's one that will make or break it, at least for me.

Red Clover & White Clover

The European Red clover (Trifolium pratense) is the most common I see, and often mentioned when people talk about tea. I appreciate it as a good introductory edible and a nitrogen-fixer for the soil. The flavor is very mild, with only a light floral taste.

While it's ok to put some in a blend, in my opinion, all by itself it's nothing to write home about. Common white clover (Trifloium ripens) is similar in flavor and also not very interesting on it's own to me, but is fine in a blend.

White and Yellow Sweet Clover

Yellow and white clover (Melilotus officinalis and alba, respectfully) get much larger than red clover. These are weedy, non-native plants from Europe and very common in the Midwest and across North America.

Like other clovers, they contain coumarin, a compound formerly used in Mexican Vanilla extract and the same flavoring compound found in Tonka Bean the French Chefs love. They add a sweet, vanilla-like taste to tea, with notes of hay and fresh cut grass.

Besides tea, I love using these sweet clovers to make wild vanilla extract, which you can read about in my post on yellow and white sweet clovers. Next time you drive through farmland in the late summer open the window-I can always smell the vanilla notes of coumarin on the wind when hay is cut.

Purple Prairie Clover

The finest clover for tea I've had, Dalia purpea tastes a bit like hay and skittles. It’s different than any other species I’ve had and is the key to success in my opinion. It's floral, and vaguely fruity, with subtle notes of tangerine peel.

It was one of the first aromatic plants I grew when I finally bought a house. Prairie Moon Nursery sells seeds and it's easy to grow.

White Prairie Clover (Dalia candida)

A native species somewhat overshadowed by it's cousin purple prairie clover, Dalia candida looks nearly identical to purple prairie clover, except the flowers are white instead of purple. The flavor is comparable to purple prairie clover but slightly different, and not as fruity to me.

To be honest, I mention the other plants for posterity and I wouldn't bother making clover tea if I don't have purple prairie clover on hand. It's that good.

How to Make Wild Clover Tea

It's so easy a recipe is hardly necessary after your first time making it. First you'll want to harvest your clovers. The goal is to harvest plants at their peak flowering stage for the best aroma. Aromatic flowers attract more than humans, so I give the plants a good shake, laying them out on a tray outside for a few minutes to evict any insects.

Next, use a kitchen shears or a heavy scissors to cut the plants into 1-2 inch pieces. From here the plants can be dried or used fresh, but fresh will always be more intense.

With fresh plants, I put them in a pot of water and bring it to a boil with the plants in it, then turn it off and allow it to infuse. This might seem intense for tea, but it takes longer to get a good infusion from fresh plants than from dried.

Taste the tea and see if it's to your liking, then strain and serve warm, or chill. I use a chinois in the image below, but I also use re-usable cheesecloth, depending on how I'm feeling.

While it's fine to serve it unsweetened, a little clover honey or maple syrup will heighten the floral aromas.

Chef's Tips

• The most important thing to know here is that blooming flowers, specifically the purple prairie clover are the secret to the strongest, most floral tea.
• Following that, while you can use the plants dried, the freshest, most vibrant tea will come from fresh plants.
• Out of an abundance of caution I need to mention people on blood thinners avoid consuming too much clover tea or plants containing coumarin. Please research things yourself or consult a doctor before consuming if you're on blood-thinning medication.

Have you made tea from clovers? How do you like it? Let me know in the comments.

Related Posts

• Purple Prairie Clover
• Chaga Tea
• Wild Mint and Stinging Nettle Tea