Booze Recipes, Herbal Recipes, Herbalism, Recipe Box, video
The Magic of Mimosa: Cordial and Tincture Recipes
Amber Shehan • June 28, 2016
Ah, it is late June, and the Mimosa trees are blooming! These pink, fluffy trees are cartoonish but beautiful, looking like "truffula tuft" trees from Dr. Seuss books!
My love and I went a-foraging in the wild forest of invasive plants that covers the empty lot next door. This lot would be almost impassable if it weren’t for the trails my dog has left in the romps that leave her covered with thorns and spiderwebs. The patch of growth is lush and chocked with wild blackberry brambles, honeysuckle vines, and sharp stands of ornamental grass gone wild. Right in the heart of the chaos are two Mimosa trees.
Like a good forager, I brought a basket, scissors, and my fruit-picking pole, and dressed properly to deal with ticks and brambles. Once we made our way to the Mimosa trees, we realized that the flowers were too high up to reach from the ground, even with the picking pole. That wasn’t a problem. Eric’s more than happy to have a reason to climb a tree!
Once he’d picked enough mimosa flowers for a small jar of tincture or two, I stole the basket from him and picked a mess o’blackberries. The dappled sunlight flickered around the overgrown lot as we merrily tromped around with sticky fingers made purple from the sweet, dark fruits.
Victorious, we reclined on the porch and drank some mead until the mosquitoes launched their attack at dusk.
Once indoors for the night, we clipped the foraged flowers from their stems and set to work making Mimosa Tincture and Mimosa & Blackberry Cordial.
Mimosa (Albizia julibrissin) is known in Chinese medicine for being a lifter of the mood and an ally to relieve stress and anxiety. The bright, happy flowers attest to their power, looking like happy little pink pom-poms, ready to celebrate! Picking them from the trees made me feel as if we’d sneaked into the work of Dr. Seuss.
Tinctures are fairly easy to make, even if you are a beginner. For a quick reference, here’s my post on Tinctures, Cordials, and Elixirs. A basic tincture is plant matter + booze + time.
If you want to get fancy with it, you can make your tincture into a cordial.
Mimosa & Blackberry Cordial Recipe
- Fill a jar with Mimosa flowers after trimming off the long green stems.
- Add a handful of fresh blackberries. You can squash or puree them if you’d like, you’ll get more juice that way!
- Fill the jar to the top with vodka.
- Label and date the jar and set it aside for at least a week. I usually end up leaving them for more than a month.
- Strain the vodka into a new, clean jar. Marvel over the lovely blush of the booze!
- Give it a taste, but bear in mind that it won’t be sweet. If you want to turn this tincture into a sugary cordial, make a simple syrup from honey or sugar and add it to your booze. It’s your creation, so make it just as sweet as you like it!
Enjoy the fruits of your labor. It only takes a little sip of cordial to enjoy the mood-lifting, grief-relieving effects of Mimosa. A tiny bit goes a long way. Save your sips for when you really need a hug for your heart.
Resources:
https://www.planetherbs.com/specific-herbs/albizia-the-tree-of-happiness.html
http://greenmanramblings.blogspot.com/2013/04/quick-notes-on-herbs-for-grief-and-fear.html
Matthew Wood, The Practice of Traditional Western Herbalism.
Get updates from Pixie's Pocket: brewing and herbs in your inbox:
Posted In Booze Recipes, Herbal Recipes, Herbalism, Recipe Box, video
Tagged: albizia, cordial, depression lies, elixir, foraging, grief, heart, herbalism, herbs, infused booze, invasive, let's talk about, mimosa, recipe, recipe box, recipes, remedies, remedy, tincture
Amber Shehan
Hi! I'm Amber Pixie, and this is my site. Enjoy the recipes, information, posts, and please feel free to message me if you have questions!
What zone do you live in? I’m in IL and wonder if the trees would grow here.
6B is the zone here in Asheville, NC. I don’t know much about IL, but found this link that might help? http://web.extension.illinois.edu/askextension/thisQuestion.cfm?ThreadID=10446&catID=34&AskSiteID=34
We have two mimosa trees in our yard. We are in planting zone 6a. In regards to someone’s comment about mimosa being invasi. We have two trees. No offshoots. No seedlings. No suckers. Nothing. Just two trees.
They will grow where they are most needed.
Don’t plant it, it’s terrible invasive
I have 2, they have never ever gone sprouted any new guys. I would love these to take over my property!!!! What a beautiful treat
It’s only invasive if you don’t take care of the falling parts in the fall or mow your yard. If it’s planted in a wild part of your property, yes, but they have many medicinal values that can’t be ignored. We live in east TN, and these trees are everywhere and absolutely beautiful
I think the invasive part really depends where you are.(like most plants). North Carolina lists it as terribly invasive, but I have watched this plant in our 300 acre mountain cove for more than 30 years and it isn’t invasive at all here. It’s a very delicate, short-lived tree, usually only living a few years before it succumbs to a storm or other things. The butterflies adore it…I do too. It does self-seed a bit, but the populations here have greatly decreased over the years, not increased. If you find that is invasive where you are, it’s easy enough to pull out the extra seedlings in the spring. I have found the same thing with many other invasive where, including autumn olive, barberry, butterfly weed and others. Just keep an eye on anything you plant and be responsible about tending it. Many Invasives make such great medicine.
We are in agreement, Kelley! I am welcoming Mimosa onto my new property this spring. The medicine and love and bright energy that this tree gives are worth any extra maintenance it takes to ensure it remains in balance with where it grows.
There are some grand old mimosas that I’ve seen around the Asheville area.
And when they get out of control, get goats , they love them.
I also live in Illinois (Southwestern area near Carbondale) in zone 6b. They grow very well in this part of the state. I’ve never used them for foraging purposes. Noticed last week they’re in bloom, so I’m definitely going to this year.
[…] Happiness” with Mimosa Mimosa “Full Happiness” Flowers The Magic of Mimosa: Cordial and Tincture Recipes Pedicularis Tincture for The Side Effects of […]
Appreciate the enlightenment. I’ve lived in Texas for over 40 years and heard only about “trash trees”. They are beautiful and have a purpose, thank you for sharing.
The seed pods are poisonous, be careful about warning children to not put them in their mouth. If you have pets or livestock, keep the seed pods away from them. Do not plant where livestock have access to them.
I love the notion of cordial, I have never done so before. if I add simple syrup to it that is the shelf life before it ferments?
Adding simple syrup to the booze should not dilute the tincture enough to let it ferment, in my experience! Cheers! 🙂
How long is the tincture good for?
I’ve never had a tincture go bad, but once a sugar syrup is added to it to make it a cordial, it has a very small chance of fermenting after a while. When in doubt, store it in your fridge or anywhere cool and dark.
I’m Alabama, Mimosa trees are very invasive. So be aware that they can be invasive
Do you need to wash the flowers beforehand? They are so delicate I don’t want to damage them but I live in Brooklyn so I’m not confident they are clean.
I wasn’t getting comment notifications, so forgive my late reply! I don’t wash delicate flowers, but I do try to shake them out as best I can for buggies! I hope your process went well – what did you make?
Hi Amber, I did the recipe with vodka to make tincture, but when I strained it, There was 2 small black bugs in it. I like to know if it is still good to use? Thank you.
I’m so sorry for my delay! Yes, the vodka should keep things safe enough. I’d just strain out the fellows and go with it. 🙂
Just wondering if I can use rum instead of vodka? Trying to use what I have in hand.
Hi Angie. I have often made timctureswoth rum. Specifically capitan morgans as I like the flavor. Works very well just cost more than vodka, which is why vodka is used. Price control.
Hey! I made a bunch of tincture to be honest. I have been adding a few drops to drinks once a day. I was wondering if you knew if this was safe or not? As I have an interest in using it for anxiety. It has been stored in the fridge since summer. Appreciate any of your feedback!
I made this last week and only picked the best looking flowers. I carefully plucked off the stems. It’s not turned pink at all, just an ugly tan/yellow. 😕What am I doing wrong?
I have been harvesting my mimosa flowers and freezing them. Can I still use them in a tincture? I think I read somewhere before that you need to use a higher alcohol content for material that is higher in water content. These seem to have a lot of moisture on the frozen flowers. Thank you for your imput.