Pine Sprig Ice Cubes

With holiday party season upon us, I'm always looking for unique ways to add seasonal fun to the mix. These easy to make pine sprig ice cubes are the jazz hands of cocktail coolers - sure to be a hit with your party people!

Step 1: Supplies

• any type of pine bough (fir, spruce, etc.) that has small, cube sized sprigs
• distilled or twice boiled water* (cooled to room temp.)
• ice cube tray

*To make your own 'pure' water, bring a small pot of water to a boil and then allow it to cool. Repeat this process. Doing this removes all the gasses, etc. that cause cloudiness in ice cubes. I used store bought distilled water to save time, but in hind sight, wish I had taken the time to make my own. I would have had even clearer results.

Step 2: Sprig Preparation

Wash the pine bough thoroughly, in cold water only.

With small scissors or your fingers, remove the small single or double sprigs at the end of the branches. (The new growth.) Pull off any rogue longer needles.

Make enough of them to fill each compartment of your ice cube tray.

Step 3: Place the Pines

Put one sprig in each tray square.

Fill the tray with cold or room temperature (distilled/purified) water.

Step 4: Freeze & Chill

Place the full tray in the freezer and leave overnight, or for at least 3-4 hours.

Now the only thing left to do is dazzle your guests and loved ones with some forest fun in their drinks!

Happy Holidays!!

Comments

[ooohlaa]

I just ordered Siberian pine oil for gastric stomach. You take 3t a day and its supposed to actually cure it in 3 weeks and make you feel better way faster than that. Hmmmm what to do with your info about toxicity???

[marshgre]

See below. Pine is being used wrong. The poster of this intractable is using either spruce (that is used as a treatment for gastric disorders) or balsam fir (that is used for its high vitamin C)

Many people misuse the word "pine" when they actually mean coniferous.

[marshgre]

Please avoid pine for this recipe!

Pine contains terpenes that are toxic.

Trees like balsam fir, and white or black spruce are good choices.

Pine, cedar, and hemlock are toxic. Cat spruce is extremely unpleasant! (you'll know why it's called CAT spruce ;-) )

Sorry for being "that guy".

[brewgoat]

Pine is safe to eat. yes there are terpenes in Pine but at a very low level kind of how apples have Cyanide in the seeds but eating them wont kill you. Scandinavian people have been making a tea out of pine for centuries for the vitamin C content. Yew on the other hand is toxic and will send you to the doctor. it looks like Pine and is what you may be referring to.

[marshgre]

I'm afraid you are confusing pine with balsam fir. It's a common mistake made by the prevalent misuse of the word "pine" to refer to all needle bearing trees. The indigenous peoples of Eastern Canada would cook the needles and inner bark from balsam fir to produce a tea that is high in vitamin C - they shared this recipe with the early French settlers as a treatment for scurvy. Pine trees were rendered for their pitch that was used as an adhesive and sealant when building canoes.

Yew does NOT resemble pine in any way - it could however get mixed up with balsam fir if you ignore the different shapes of the trees.

attached are pictures showing balsam fir, yew, and pine needles (in that order)

[catmandux]

I wish i could upvote this. That this made it into the newsletter is unfortunate as i see people trying this and at best getting unpleasant tastes in their souls. At worse, a trip to the doctor.

[IsobelP]

The twice boiled water is interesting.

It reminds me of the recipe for 'holy water' - just boil the hell out of it!

[hammer9876]

Sorry, but there is no way I would serve pine needles in an ice cube in a
drink. Accidentally swallowing a sharp, pointy object is not good for
humans.

[thanhdat2202]

Totally agree with you. I think pomegranate will be a better choice.

[Mulchy]

This would encourage everyone to gulp their drinks as fast as possible before the dirty pine needles touched their drink.

[kenahoo]

There are other things people eat that have once been outside: fruits, vegetables, even animals. Some of them even grew in the ground!

[tobsar68]

In Sweden we make tea and syrup with it? Its god when you have a cold.

[sarawelder]

Rosemary would look similar and it is safe to eat

[marshgre]

Mint or basil are good candidates too.

I say match the herb to the drink!

[Cat00x]

I recommend the author edit it and add caveats regarding what pine to use and not use... Fun, though! I like the rosemary idea, too.

[marshgre]

I think the fact that the word "pine" is being substituted for word "evergreen" is the bigger problem here.

Pine is a species of tree. Evergreen is the entire grouping of needle bearing trees. The fact that people confuse this seemingly insignificant piece of botanical information is very frustrating and apparently dangerous.

[Edbed]

This looks awesome.

[Nickychen0401]

I use it for my birthday party. Every guest like the idea you are giving

[mchau2]

it looks super nice! so cool for parties!