sassafras tea

noun

1. a tea made from the aromatic dried bark of the root of the sassafras tree, often used medicinally as a stimulant, diaphoretic, and diuretic.

Word History and Origins

Origin of sassafras tea¹

First recorded in 1775–85

Example Sentences

For the front awning, he used sassafras, a semi-soft wood that darkens with age, smells like root beer when you cut it, and reminds him of the sassafras tea he drank as a kid.

From Los Angeles Times

She could talk clearer and she took some chicken broth and sassafras tea when Mama brought it in to her.

From Literature

It was taken down and the roots chopped up, and I think everybody in town took some home to boil for sassafras tea.

From Literature

“Here’s some sassafras tea,” she said.

From Literature

He used to barter pies for fresh vegetables and found local herbalists who could take you through the forest and “show you everything that was anything. We had sassafras tea, pokeweed salad, dandelion greens, morels. Nobody made a big deal of it. It was just one of the joys of country living,” he said.

From Washington Post