Chef Klaus
Apfelschorle
Cloudy apple juice, sharp mineral water, and no sugar bowl: the German Schorle that belongs in school bags, beer gardens, picnic baskets, and the table when supper is quick.
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Hagebuttentee
Created by
The deep-red winter tea from the hedgerow, dried rosehips simmered gently and covered so the cup tastes of tart fruit, not dust from a packet.
Beverages
German
Comfort Food
Make Ahead
5 min
Active Time
20 min cook•25 min total
Yield4 cups
Hagebuttentee is winter table and sickbed table, the deep red cup Germans know from kitchens, thermos flasks, and old cupboards where dried rosehips waited for cold months. It belongs wherever the hedgerows give hips after the first frost, especially in the south and east where people also turn them into Hiffenmark or Hagebuttenmark, rosehip jam. In the north you'll often meet it as a plain fruit tea; further south someone may sweeten it harder or sharpen it with lemon. Im Norden anders, im Süden anders.
The argument is simple: bag or hips. The tea bag gives colour quickly and often not much else. Nicht aus dem Glas, and not from a perfumed packet if you can avoid it. Cut dried rosehip shells give you tart fruit, a little body, and that clear ruby colour that tells you the larder did its work.
The technique is the quiet simmer. Start the hips cold, bring them up slowly, then keep the pot barely moving and covered. Dried rosehip skin is tough; it needs time to soften and release flavour, but a hard boil roughens the cup and drives off the fresh edge. Das braucht seine Zeit, only not much of it.
Strain it fine and sweeten after tasting. A good Hagebuttentee should wake the mouth a little, not taste like red sugar water. Schön ist, was schmeckt.
Rosehips entered the German winter larder as a hedgerow fruit gathered after frost, then dried for tea or cooked into Hagebuttenmark, especially in Franconia, Swabia, and Thuringia. During the 20th century, rosehip preparations were promoted across central Europe as a winter source of vitamin C, though the vitamin is heat-sensitive and survives best when the fruit is handled gently. The regional split still shows at the table: some households brew it plain and tart as a Hausmittel, a home remedy, while southern cooks often know the same fruit first as jam for doughnuts and pastries.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
dried rosehips
Quantity
40g
cut shells, without hairs
cold water
Quantity
1 litre
honey or sugar (optional)
Quantity
1 tablespoon
lemon juice (optional)
Quantity
1 teaspoon
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| dried rosehipscut shells, without hairs | 40g |
| cold water | 1 litre |
| honey or sugar (optional) | 1 tablespoon |
| lemon juice (optional) | 1 teaspoon |
Equipment Needed
- •Small lidded saucepan
- •Fine sieve or muslin cloth
- •Heatproof teapot or jug
Instructions
- 1
Rinse the hips
Put the dried rosehips in a fine sieve and rinse them quickly under cold water. This takes off dust from drying, and with cut hips it also helps catch any stray seed hairs, which are scratchy and don't belong in the cup.
- 2
Start cold
Put the rosehips and cold water in a small pot and let them sit 10 minutes before heating. Starting cold gives the leathery skins time to soften, so the tea draws deep red instead of tasting thin and woody.
- 3
Simmer gently
Bring the pot just to a simmer, then runter mit der Temperatur, down with the temperature, and keep it barely moving for 12 to 15 minutes with the lid on. A hard boil roughens the fruit and wastes aroma; a quiet simmer pulls colour, tartness, and body from the hips without beating them flat.
If you want the brightest vitamin C, steep a second batch overnight in cold water and warm it gently the next day. Heat gives the old sickbed tea its depth, but vitamin C is not improved by bullying it. - 4
Steep and strain
Take the pot off the heat and leave it covered for 5 minutes, because the last steep rounds the sour edge and lets the fine fruit pulp settle. Strain through a fine sieve or cloth; don't press hard on seedy hips, or you push bitterness and hairs into the tea.
- 5
Sweeten at end
Taste before sweetening. Add honey, sugar, or a few drops of lemon only after straining, because sweetness should balance the tart fruit, not hide it. Würzen, Fett, Salz zum Schluss has its drink version too: finish after you know what you've made.
Chef Tips
- •Buy cut rosehip shells from a good herb shop if you can. Whole hips work, but they need longer and give less quickly; powder turns muddy and is harder to strain cleanly.
- •Avoid hips with lots of exposed seed hairs. Those hairs irritate the throat, which is poor work for a drink people make when someone already feels rough.
- •Make it stronger than you think. Rosehip tea should be deep ruby and tart; pale pink water is what happens when the cook gets impatient.
- •For iced Hagebuttentee, brew it strong, chill it, and cut it with sparkling water as a Schorle, juice or tea cut with sparkling water. That is summer work from a winter fruit.
Advance Preparation
- •Brew the tea up to 3 days ahead and keep it covered in the refrigerator. Rewarm it gently, or serve it cold with sparkling water.
- •For a brighter cold infusion, steep the rosehips in cold water overnight in the refrigerator, then warm only until hot enough to drink.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 250g)
Calories
20 calories
Total Fat
0 g
Saturated Fat
0 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
0 g
Cholesterol
0 mg
Sodium
5 mg
Total Carbohydrates
5 g
Dietary Fiber
0 g
Sugars
5 g
Protein
0 g
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