Birch sap – The power and juice of birch trees

Birch sap, also known as birch water, is sap that is tapped directly from birch trees.

However, not all birch species are suitable for bottling.

Birch sap should be tapped in spring – optimally in May – as this is when the sap rises in the trees. If you wait until June, the sap will become bitter and almost undrinkable.

It is recommended to drink between 200 – 400 ml of birch sap daily, divided into 3 portions.

Where can I buy birch sap?

Although it's relatively easy to tap birch sap yourself, this is only possible in spring – but luckily you can buy good quality birch sap all year round on the internet.

Bottling birch sap

In the Nordic countries, May is the best month for tapping birch sap. This is because birch sap should be tapped when the tree contains as much sap as possible, but also before the sap becomes bitter and almost undrinkable – which it does already in early June. However, you can tap the sap as early as April if you wish.

The bottling process can be done in two ways:

• Drilling a small hole in the tree trunk and inserting a small tapping mechanism into the tree trunk that feeds the birch sap into a container (e.g. a bag)

• By cutting a branch of the birch tree and attaching a container to the end of the branch (e.g. a bottle) into which the birch sap runs

Although tapping birch sap leaves a “scar” in the wood, tapping does not damage the wood in any way. Commercial tree tappers are able to tap trees for decades without affecting the trees. A healthy tree can “heal” its tap hole in 1 year. In weakened trees, the healing process can take up to 3 years.

However, not all birch species are suitable for tapping – only the following:

• Downy birch (Betula pubescens)
• Silver birch (Betula pendula)
• Sugar birch (Betula lenta)
• Paper birch (Betula papyrifera)
• Western American birch (Betula occidentalis)

Since we only have downy birch and warty birch in the Nordic countries, we have to make do with their sap.

Shelf life

Birch sap has a very short shelf life. In the fridge it can last 2-3 days (sometimes up to 5 days) and at room temperature the shelf life is even shorter. Birch sap can be frozen, but this reduces the quality.

However, there are several ways to extend the shelf life:

• Filtration with 0.22 μ mesh (extends shelf life to about 3 weeks in the fridge)
• Oxygen-free bottling (extends shelf life to around 1 year)
• Sugar addition (3g per 100mg – shelf life varies)
• Heat pasteurization (extends shelf life to approximately 1 year)
• Freezing (extends shelf life to approximately 2 years)

Is birch juice healthy?

If you read on the websites of manufacturers and health food stores, birch sap is almost a miracle drink that can both nourish us and cure us of all kinds of diseases.

In addition, it has been used for a variety of health problems in natural medicine. It is best known for its cleansing, purifying and diuretic properties.

However, there are no studies to support these claims and they should be taken with a grain of salt. However, the high vitamin C content of birch sap and the fact that it's a 100% natural juice can rightly be highlighted. Many followers also drink birch juice to boost their energy levels and improve their overall wellbeing.

Can birch juice be used for allergies?

There are no scientific studies that have been able to confirm or deny whether birch juice can be used for allergies. There are some people who are allergic to birch pollen and also to birch sap.

However, some people claim to have cured their birch pollen allergy by drinking birch juice, but this has not been scientifically proven. The idea behind this theory is that you can immunize your body against the allergens in birch pollen by drinking a little birch juice every day.

If you have a birch pollen allergy and would like to try to cure it with the “birch juice method”, we recommend that you start by experimenting with a small amount of birch juice – sipping it.

• If you experience symptoms (they will typically appear in the mouth and throat), you should immediately spit out the birch sap and rinse your mouth thoroughly with water.

• If you don't experience any symptoms, you can continue with larger amounts of juice. However, under no circumstances should you exceed the recommended daily dose of 200 – 400 ml.

If you have any doubts, you should consult your doctor.

The use of birch sap

Birch sap has been a traditional drink in Russia, Belarus, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Finland, Ukraine, Poland, France, Scotland and parts of northern China. In these countries (and elsewhere), birch sap has been used in different ways and for different purposes – i.e. in some places it has been drunk exclusively and in other places it has been used externally for cosmetic and natural medicine purposes.

Below is a chart showing the uses of birch sap in different countries:

Country/region	Medicinal use	Cosmetic use
Bulgaria		Promote hair growth
England and Scotland	For rheumatic diseases, as first nutrition for newborns
Estonia	Prevention of eye diseases, treatment of skin diseases, vitamin supplements	Hair wash, for freckles and skin whitening
Latvia	Revitalization	Hair wash
Poland Revitalization	Revitalization, kidney stones	Hair wash, hair strengthening
Belarus	Lung diseases, gout
Romania	Kidney stones, jaundice, scabies, as a diuretic	Hair coloring, mole removal
Russia, Russia	Externally on wounds, for children when teething	Face wash
Sweden	Scurvy, cholera
Czech Republic	Poor health, infertility	For freckles
Hungary	Stomach and lung diseases	For freckles
Ukraine	Skin diseases, vitamin supplements, as a diuretic	For freckles

In practice, birch sap has also been used for high cholesterol, bone and joint problems, hair loss and obesity.

Again, it should be noted that these uses are not recognized by medical science and therefore birch sap should not be used for these (or any other health problems). If you are ill, you should always seek medical advice.

Can other trees be tapped for sap?

Birch trees are not the only trees that can be juiced. There are many trees that can be tapped, but the quality, quantity, consistency and especially the taste of the tree juices vary greatly.

The most popular trees are probably the maples (Acer), which are mainly tapped for their sap in North America. The most commonly used maple trees are:

• Sugar maple (Acer saccharum)
• Black Maple (Acer nigrum)
• Red Maple (Acer rubrum)
• Silver maple (Acer saccharinum)

The well-known American syrup ‘maple syrup' consists of boiled maple sap to which sugar or other sweeteners may have been added.

However, it should be noted that maple (Acer pseudoplatanus) is just one of many trees in the maple family and that maple sap is usually only tapped if it is to be used to make syrup (in other words, it is not used pure, as with other types of maple sap or birch sap). Incidentally, most “maple syrup” doesn't come from maple trees, but from the other trees in the maple family.

Birch wine and birch beer

Both birch wine and birch beer are based on birch sap. However, it is mostly birch wine that is widely known. It can be made in several ways, but here is one method:

For 25 liters of birch sap, you need 3 kg of sugar. Stir the mixture until its volume is halved. Skim the mixture; pour the liquid through a strainer into a wine balloon and add a little yeast. Then add 5 liters of quality wine and 4 seedless lemons cut into slices. When fermentation stops, the wine balloon is sealed with a cork and kept closed for 30 days. Then pour the wine into bottles (don't fill them to the top.