Keeping food and drinks cold is sometimes a challenge in the boating conditions. That can be partially solved with nature’s own special super liquid – birch water (also known as birch sap). And at the same time it is ultra trendy and super healthy drink for hot sailing weather.
First of all, what is birch water? It’s sap directly tapped from birch trees. Birch sap may be consumed both fresh or first frozen. When fresh, it is a clear and uncoloured liquid, often slightly sweet with a slightly silky texture. If you freeze it, is melting slowly and can be enjoyed ice cold.
It’s quite practical to freeze fresh birch water in new, empty 3-liter “bag in a box” plastic bags. The season is around April-May in Finland. Birch water is collected only at the break of winter and spring when the sap moves intensively. Birch water collection is done by drilling a hole into its trunk and leading the sap into a container via some conduit (a tube or simply a thin twig): the sap will flow along it because of the surface tension. The wound is then plugged to minimise infection
Once frozen, you can take this frozen bag to your boat. It stays much colder than typical cold packs, even in the room temperature. It is melting slowly so you can get ice-cold birch water drinks for few days. Combine this ice-cold birch water with some herbs (like mint) for an ultimate taste.
Birch water is consist 99% of water and is believed to be healthy in many ways. Birch water contains at least heterosides (betuloside and monotropitoside), 17 amino acids including glutamic acid, as well as minerals, enzymes, proteins, betulinic acid and betulin, antioxidants, sugar (fructose, glucose and small amounts of sucrose) and vitamins (C and B(group))
Skål!
This birch water drink was made from birch water produced by Långstrand Gård in Ekenäs, Finland.
