Whether you choose to make Essiac yourself or you purchase it premade, it’s important to know how long your Essiac is good for.
Premade Essiac: Essiac should last at least 6 months unopened if kept in a cool, dark place. Once opened, it will keep for a little over month. It should be kept in the fridge to slow potential mold growth. Every time you open that lid you invite potential growth in, so keeping the area around the cap clean is helpful to prolong the life of your tea.
Making Essiac yourself: Ensuring you properly brew Essiac will allow you to extend the useful life of your finished tea. Remember, after you steep your tea in the Essiac Herbs for 10-12 hours, remove the herbs and THEN bring your tea back up to 180F (82C). While that’s happening you’ll want to heat up your canning jars. We recommend canning jars because you can reuse them and they keep the tea, when properly added, for a long time without spoiling. You’re not canning like you would a water bath or pressure method, it’s more simple than that. The easiest way to heat the jars up and sterilize them all at once by adding them in boiling water for at least 10 minutes.
Once your tea is at 180F (82C), you add your tea to your hot jars, quickly adding lids to each. We recommend canning lids as they’ll seal with the heat of the tea. Use gloves, it’s hot! Then turn the tea upside down to both seal the canning lids and ensure the hot tea has touched every surface of the inside of the jar to kill off any potential mold that may have entered. Once the jars are cooled you can keep them away from direct sunlight, unopened, for up to 6 months. If you aren’t sure if the jars sealed you need to add them to the fridge. Once opened, your tea should last around a month like the premade tea.
Cheers!
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