Besides smoking a cigarette of calea zacatechichi leaves, the most common method of ingestion is to prepare a tea made from raw leaves and foliage. One of the most striking features of the tea is the extreme bitterness it has upon contact to the tongue. The first time I tried calea zacatechichi tea, I honestly could not believe how ungodly bitter this tea is.

While I’ve never found any method to truly mask the bitter flavor, here are some suggestions on making it more tasty. Try adding the following to the tea:

1) chase it with a strong juice
2) add kool aid – funny, I know, but someone wrote to me and suggested this method. They said it works great for them.
3) brew with additional teas with strong flavors, such as mint
4) add generous amounts of honey or agave nectar

I honestly prefer to simply add what I can, but drink the calea tea slowly. Drinking slowly makes it easier, although it does mean it takes longer!