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Note: Pregnant or lactating women should not take this tea.
If you have a medical condition and are wondering if you can
take this tea, please email me
about it!
For the novice,
making essiac is a trial-and-error experience; no one becomes
a cook overnight.
Because of "water loss", my packets contain 4.2oz dried herbs and are cooked in one gallon
plus 3 cups of water so the yield will be one gallon tea.
Supplies and equipment
1 packet of dried herbs, when cooked
will yield approx. one gallon of tea.
(Store unused packets in a cool, dark place, herbs are light-and-heat sensitive)
1 gallon plus 3 cups of sodium-free distilled water.
Two 2-gallon stainless steel pots with
lids -- not aluminum! However, you may
use either 2-gallon unchipped enamel or glass pots with lids.
Stainless steel fine mesh strainer
(do not strain with cheesecloth!)
Stainless steel or enamel funnel.
Stainless steel, rubber, or wooden spatula.
Four 32-oz. sterilized amber glass Boston Round bottles with
polyseal caps
(or eight 16-oz. amber bottles).
Several ways to sterilize are listed below.
Cooking instructions to make one gallon of tea
- Bring one gallon plus three cups of sodium-free distilled water to a low simmer in a
two-gallon pot with the lid on.
- Stir in one packet of dry ingredients.
Replace lid and gently simmer the herbs for ten minutes. Make
sure the pot does not come to a hard or rolling boil. Not only will
you possibly damage the delicate nature of the sheep sorrel, but
you will loose water by steam escaping with high-heat boiling.
Turn off the heat after 10 minutes. With
a spatula, quickly scrape down into the tea the herbs that are
stuck on the insides of the pot. Replace the lid.
Let the pot sit on the turned-off stove burner with the lid on for 10-12 hours
(this is the steeping and extraction process).
After the steeping process, turn your stove back on and
heat the mixture just to a slow simmer, when you can see
the tea water starting to bubble.
Turn off stove. Strain the tea into the second two-gallon pot,
doing this as promptly as you can so tea won't cool down.
Be careful not to burn yourself.
Any herb residue left in the finished tea is harmless.
Using a funnel, immediately pour the hot liquid into the
sterilized bottles and tighten caps.
Allow bottles to cool on kitchen counter, tighten caps again,
label the bottles with date you prepared this batch,
then refrigerate them.
The bottles must be kept refrigerated.
Once opened, a bottle usually lasts 3-4 weeks before spoiling.
The formula does not contain any
preservative agents and if mold develops in the bottle,
discard the contents immediately. When in doubt, throw it out.
Wash and save the emptied-out bottle.
All bottles and caps must be
washed and sterilized before using again.
For a cleansing dose
Heat approximately 2oz. (about 1/4 cup) of distilled water to boiling.
Shake the tea bottle and measure out 2oz. (1/4 cup).
Add this to the hot water in a drinking cup. Enjoy!
Take this on an empty stomach. I prefer to drink it
first thing in the morning as a nice hot cup of tea. You can eat
about 10 minutes after taking the tea.
For those wanting a larger amount of essiac
Heat approximately 2oz. (about 1/4 cup) of distilled water to boiling.
Shake the tea bottle and measure out 2oz. (1/4 cup).
Add this to the hot water in a drinking cup.
Do this in the morning before breakfast, again before lunch,
and at bedtime
(6oz. total tea used from the bottle each day). Take on an empty
stomach,
10 minutes prior to eating, or about 2 hours after a meal.
Additional points
Remember to shake the bottle well before pouring.
You may drink the tea straight out of the bottle after you shake it.
Do not microwave the tea.
Do not add anything to the tea (like sweetener, sugar, honey, milk, etc.).
Keep the bottles you cook yourself refrigerated at all times. If
you purchased my
filled bottles, they need to be refrigerated only
upon opening (the pH is known
through stringent testing methods
my tea undergoes).
Use any brand of bottled distilled water that does not have high
mineral content
(artesian bottled water might). Do not use tap water or treated water.
Some people like to save the strained-out herb residue to use as a skin
poultice,
or as swell garden compost.
Washing and sterilizing bottles and caps
When you have emptied a bottle, rinse it out, fill to the top with
ordinary water, screw the cap on and store, until it's time
to wash and sterilize all bottles for new batch of tea.
This way any residue won't dry out and make washing more difficult.
During or after 10-12 hour steep of new tea, wash and rinse the
bottles and caps. Instead of using dishwash detergent
(bubbles are hard to rinse out), you can use something like
Lysol Antibacterial Kitchen Cleaner. Couple squirts into each
bottle, fill 1/2 full of hot water and shake thoroughly. A
bottle brush helps scrubbing inside (one that can get into narrow bottle necks
has foam strips bunched up at the tip).
There are several ways to sterilize:
- Boiling -- place bottles and caps in kettle, add water to
completely cover them.
Bring water to boil and boil for five minutes.
Turn off heat, allow kettle cool just enough so you can pour off
water and remove items. Drain and dry.
- Hydrogen Peroxide -- fresh 16oz bottle of 3% strength hydrogen peroxide.
Fill first bottle 1/2 full of hydrogen peroxide, shake well.
Then pour first bottle's peroxide into second bottle, shake well.
Keep pouring and shaking the peroxide from bottle to bottle until finished,
adding more peroxide if nnecessary.
Meanwhile, have caps soaking in some peroxide.
Rinse out bottles and caps thoroughly with hot water.
- Clorox -- add 1/2 teaspoon Clorox to one gallon of water,
shake
(use empty distilled water bottle or other clean one gallon bottle).
Line up the bottles in sink, fill each to the top
with Clorox water, soaking caps in some in a saucer. Soak for 5 minutes,
rinse out bottles and caps thoroughly with hot water.
If you have any questions about the directions on this page,
please let me know!
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