Provision bark, Pachira aquatica is a tree that grows along rivers and streams in Belize and Central America.  The making and drinking of provision bark tea has an interesting history that goes back to the days of rubber and chicle tapping and mahogany logging when this tea was made as a food substitute for workers due to food shortages.  The traditional uses for this tea include treatment of anaemia, exhaustion and low blood pressure.

We decided to try some of this tea because we have planted some of these trees at our pond area.  We have the wild type, Pachira aquatica, which produces large brown seed pods about 30cm (12 inches) in diameter.  These seeds are edible, but very mealy (of course, we’ve tried them) and have the taste and texture of cardboard soaked in tannin; we would classify them as survival food only.  We also have the cultivated variety of this tree, Pachira glabra which is the type that is grown in East Asia for the edible seeds.  This variety has a smaller green pod which is about 15cm (6 inches) in diameter.  These seeds are sweet and delectable and taste similar to chestnuts.

To make a tea, I took a piece of provision bark about 10cm (4 inches) by 30cm (12 inches) and boiled it in a 8 litres (2 gallons) of water for 30 minutes.  The resulting beverage was a beautiful amber colour and it tasted pleasant and slightly sweet.  There was no particularly strong tannic or bitter components.  Overall, it felt “cooling” in a Traditional Chinese Medicine sense and we thought that it had mildly diuretic properties.  We left the piece of bark in the water for five days and drank 3 to 5 glasses each, a day.  We reboiled the tea at the end of the day to keep it sterilised and topped it up with water when necessary.

Other than consuming this tea for the traditional uses, I would recommend enjoying this tea as an iced beverage with a slice of lemon or lime.  Furthermore, because of its wonderful colour, Gnome is thinking of making a beer with this bark as an ingredient.  In other words, there is a lot of room for experimentation with provision bark tea.