birch bark

[sidelock]

Anyone ever chew birch bark? When we were kids we loved to chew the bark in spring in the Appalachian mountains. Must be lots of types of birch though.

 

[coloradoclyde]

Nope! But, black birch inner bark contains the chemical methyl salicylate, commonly called oil of wintergreen.
It was used as a flavoring in chewing gum in the late 19th century.

Methyl salicyclate is a powerful medicinal, so much so that it is toxic if too much is taken internally; a dose of about 5 grams can be fatal to children.

 

[Obi-Wan Cannoli]

I love stocking up on Frozen Run soda every time I go to PA. :grin:

 

[zimmerstutzen]

Frozen run is for outlanders. The best is Kutztown Birch Beer, as the label says, "Nix Besser" (Pa Dutch for none better)

I still chew on Birch bark, and birch oil is still used as flavoring, even for wintergreen.
There were a few places that sold Birch Beer by the keg that had a low alcohol content. The old Dutch men would serve it to kids at reunions and picnics years back.
Birch sap is still gathered and boiled down to syrup by a few old timers around here. The sap doesn't begin to flow until after maple is done.

 

[zimmerstutzen]

They served keg birch beer on tap AR rhe eastern in 2002. Kids next to me drank so much, you could hear their bellies slosh as they walked.

 

[Obi-Wan Cannoli]

Frozen run is for outlanders. The best is Kutztown Birch Beer,

Some of my friend's family still live in PA, they tell us the same thing. I still love cracking open an ice cold can of Frozen Run on a blistering hot day at the river.