Common Holly Tea (Ilex aquifolium) – history and rediscovery

Recently, I’ve become fascinated with a specific hidden history of Common Holly (Ilex aquifolium).

I started out with researching whether any one had any history of consuming Common Holly, and outside the mostly medicinal history, I found one thin trail of it being used as a black tea (Camelia sinensis) substitute.

I know that there are many people drinking tea from other Ilex species (like yerb mate), so maybe this trail isn’t so crazy…

I recorded my findings and conjectures in one substack post: https://urbanfoodforest.substack.com/p/holly

Then, I set about trying to recreate a modern prescriptive recipe for Common Holly tea and I think I was mostly successful: https://urbanfoodforest.substack.com/p/rediscovering-holly-tea

I wanted to share my findings on this subreddit because I think some of you will find it interesting and perhaps know more about Common Holly tea than what I’ve discovered (in which case, great, comment away!).

Thanks for reading.