Birken Tree - Birchwater

Pure straight from the wilds of Perthshire Highland native woods

Birchwater is pure Birch sap. For 3 weeks only around March, when the sap is rising up the birch trees, we tap the Birch trees to collect the precious elixir. It looks like water, but with a silkiness to it, and a slight sweet aftertaste. People say to get notes of cucumber or litchy or coconut, but they all agree that it is really refreshing.
Drink it as it is, or mixed in your smoothie for a healthy drink.
Good as a mixer as well with Whisky, taking the burn away, or with Gin to keep all the complexity of the botanicals, unless tonics that could be overpowering.
Great in cooking for poaching fish as well, you can get really inventive.

The tree at that moment is pumping the underground water, absorbing all the nutrients that it stored in its roots for coming back to life after its winter slumber. Several vitamins, minerals, electrolytes, anti-oxidants, essential amino-acids, xylitol, saponin, the sap is packed of goodness. Low in sugar. Good for inflammation, eliminate the toxins, excellent for skin and hair, and really hydrating (Russians use it as a hang-over cure).

The extraction process is simple: a little hole is drilled in the tree and a tap is introduced. A bag is hanged to the tap and is filled overnight. The sap is collected every day, and frozen straight away as it goes off within 3 days. Then it is defrosted at demand and slightly pasteurised in glass bottles to give it a month shelf life, while trying to preserve all the goodness.

The tree can give in average 5L a day, which is only 1% of what the tree actually pumps up, so doesn't harm the tree. Once the season is over, we plug back the hole and you would never guess that we passed by.

This process has been used in Scotland for thousands of years, people using it as a tonic after a rough winter. But the knowledge has been forgotten with the Highland clearance, and nowadays you can still find people getting the sap to make Birch wine but almost none to drink this revitalising elixir. Mostly found in Latvia, Russia, Finland... some UK brand import their sap from these countries.
Birken Tree has been the first Scottish commercial homegrown producer, and as far as we know first in the UK as well.

More on our website: www.birkentree.co.uk. Find out about the research on birch sap.