Solnip-cha (Korean Pine Needle Tea)

Name: Solnip-cha (Korean Pine Needle Tea)
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Korean
Ingredients: young pine needles 40 g; water 1200 ml; jujube 4 piece; ginger 12 g; honey 30 g; lemon juice 10 ml

Put 40 g pine needles cut into 5 cm lengths, 4 seeded jujubes, and 12 g sliced ginger in 1.2 L water over medium heat. Once it boils, turn the heat to very low and steep for 15 minutes, keeping the total simmering time to around 20 minutes because overboiled pine needles turn bitter. Stop heating, strain, and stir in 30 g honey and 10 ml lemon juice.

Quick answer

Total time: 30 min
Level: Easy
Servings: 4 servings
Ingredients: 6

About this dish

Young pine needles steeped over low heat with jujubes and ginger give a clear, resin-like pine scent.

Longer simmering does not make that scent stronger, only more astringent, so the brew stays under 20 minutes.

Ingredients

servings

IngredientAmount

jujube4 piece

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Instructions

6 steps

1

Rinse 40g of young pine needles two or three times under cold running water to remove impurities, then use shears to cut them into five centimeter lengths to enhance flavor extraction.
2

Halve four jujubes to remove the seeds and peel 12g of fresh ginger before slicing it into thin rounds.
3

Combine 1200ml of water with the prepared pine needles, jujubes, and ginger in a large pot, then start heating over medium heat while stirring gently to ensure the flavors meld together properly.
4

Once the water begins to boil, reduce the heat to very low and steep for an additional 15 minutes to allow the refreshing pine aroma, sweet jujube, and spicy ginger to infuse deeply.
5

Stop heating and strain the tea through a fine mesh sieve into a clean pitcher, then stir in 30g of honey and 10ml of lemon juice to balance the sweet and acidic flavors.
6

Serve the tea warm in cups immediately, or let it cool completely and refrigerate to serve chilled, which highlights the crisp and refreshing pine fragrance even more vividly for a clean finish.