Woodruff

The May drink of the Germanic tribes.

This 10-30 cm high herbaceous plant with square, straight stems, lively leaves and white flowers is often found in meadow patches in shady, deciduous forests in Central Europe. It flowers from April to June.

Use

Already with the old Germanic tribes, woodruff flavoured beers were a popular intoxicant. It was used during the May full moon festivals, in which the marriage of the sun god Baldur to the vegetation goddess was celebrated. This gave rise to the custom of the Maibowle, which was prepared with woodruff and is a tradition which continues to this day. For this, 2-3 handfuls of woodruff is collected before flowering. The woodruff is then wilted, poured over with a sparkling white wine and then left to stand for a few hours and before drinking.

„Pour the sparkling wine onto the little woodruff.“Benedictine monk Wandalbertus in 854

The woodruff plant is also traditionally used as an ingredient in teas, spirits, desserts or as a spice.

Freshly collected woodruff

Ingredients

In a withered and dry state, the plant releases coumarin, which is responsible for the typical sweet woodruff aroma. It also contains asperuloside, tannins and bitter substances, fatty oils and other glycosides and flavonoids.

Withered woodruff

Effect

In folk medicine, woodruff tea is used as an antispasmodic, circulation-enhancing, mood-enhancing and sleep-promoting remedy. Its intoxicating and aphrodisiac effect has traditionally been used in the May festivals that celebrate fertility and zest for life. During these celebrations, larger amounts of woodruff soaked in wine were consumed in order to form a contact with the spirits of nature and elemental beings.

Galium odoratum - Illustration

Side effects

Excessive use of woodruff can lead to headaches. In Germany during the 1980s, the main ingredient coumarin was allegedly harmful to the liver, which led to a ban on woodruff in food. Although this assumption has long been refuted, woodruff can only be used in food products again since a new EU regulation came into force in January 2011.