Iceland Moss Tea

Thought to be the very first lichen used as food by humans, Iceland Moss is one of forty species of Cetraria. It has been used in European folk medicine for centuries, primarily as a remedy for coughs and other ailments of the respiratory system. It was also traditionally used as a galactagogue – a herb that stimulates milk flow in breastfeeding mothers.

Whilst it grows in many alpine areas of the Northern Hemisphere, it is most famous for growing abundantly on the mineral-rich volcanic soil, in the pure, unpolluted air of the ancient lava fields in Iceland.

Known to be a highly nutritious food source, all the farms that had Icelandic Moss resources on their land would send a group of people every summer to collect the winter stores of lichens. The lichens were then prepared in a number of ways ranging from Iceland Moss milk, Iceland Moss porridge and breads to offal dishes and to make tea. Icelandic Moss was and still is a valuable food source for reindeer, caribou, musk oxen and moose.

It is thought that Icelanders have been using Icelandic Moss since the time of settlement in 874. The first mention of Iceland moss use in Iceland is in Jónsbók (Book of Laws) from 1281, which states that it is forbidden to trespass on other farms to pick lichens.

The Icelandic sagas also contain references to lichen picking expeditions where women and children went up on horseback into the mountains to pick it, with one adult man in attendance for supervision.

They slept in tents and packed the lichen in skin bags – Icelandic Moss was a life-saver in hard times. Since grain growing in Iceland never took off due to the unsuitable climate and terrain, moss was their staple. The more moss that was growing on a persons property, the more valuable the land was considered.

Furthermore, people in Norway ate Iceland moss during a seven-year famine that started in 1807. The Russians found another use for the lichen during World War II, when they prepared a version of molasses with Iceland moss.

Traditionally Iceland moss was considered a galactagogue and to have strong antibiotic, antiemetic, strongly demulcent and nutritive properties.

Other Common Names: Iceland lichen, eryngo-leaved liverwort, Islaendisch Moos (German), Islandslav (Swedish), mousse d’ Islande, lichen d’Islande (French), liquén de Islandia (Spanish), puklérka Islandská (Czech), Islanninjäkälä (Finnish), erba rissa, Lichene Islandico (Italian), and fjallagras (Icelandic).