Saturday, June 11, 2022

Clarissa Young Spencer on her Father's Consuming Herbal Tea

  

I suppose one of the principal reasons why I enjoyed having my breakfast with Father was because he always had the things I liked. To be sure, there was corn-meal must and milk, which was no great treat, but there were also hot doughnuts and syrup, codfish gravy which Mother was very adept at making and which Father loved, squabs from the pigeon house, and some little delicacy from our own garden. Brother Staines the gardener was a genius at making things grow under glass, and the first and finest strawberries or other fruits of the season naturally found their way to Father’s table. His only hot drink was composition tea made from herbs and spices. . . . The composition tea was used by Father not only as a medicine but for his usual hot drink, since our religion teaches us not to use ordinary tea or coffee. I still drink it myself and have given the recipe to hundreds of friends. Here is Father’s own recipe for it: 4 oz. each of ground bayberry, poplar bark, and hemlock; 2 oz. each of ground ginger, cloves, and cinnamon; and 1 oz. of cayenne pepper. I take a small bit on the end of a spoon fill the cup with hot water, and use plenty of cream and sugar. (Clarissa Young Spencer with Mabel Harmer, Brigham Young at Home [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1940], 17, 77-78, emphasis in bold added)

 

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