Raspberry Leaf (Rubus idaeus) is the leaf of the raspberry, a prickly cane fruit of the rose family native to Europe and northern Asia. While the berries went to the table, the leaves were dried for tea, and they have been used in Europe for centuries, above all as a women's herb.
The taste is mild, green and a little astringent, much like a light black tea. Most people take Raspberry Leaf as a tea, on its own or blended with Nettle, and it is the herb our customers reach for through the monthly cycle, when they want a plain, steady cup to come back to each day.
Cultural use
Raspberry Leaf has been used in Europe for centuries, certainly as early as the sixth century. The plant is best known for its fruit, but the leaf has a long written record of its own, running through European handbooks and pharmacopoeias to the British Pharmaceutical Codex of 1949 and the British Herbal Pharmacopoeia of 1983.
Its best-known use is among women. The handbooks describe a hot tea of the leaves taken before birth, and Maud Grieve's herbal of 1931 records its use at the monthly period. The leaf had a second, plainer role in the household: as a tea for an unsettled stomach and as an astringent gargle for the mouth and throat.
It is still widely used. Surveys gathered by the European Medicines Agency found that between 6 and 58 per cent of pregnant women had taken Raspberry Leaf.
Modern herbal use
In Western herbalism Raspberry Leaf is classed as an astringent and a uterine tonic: a mild, tannin-rich leaf taken as an everyday tea. It is the base of many women's blends, often with Nettle or Chaste Tree.
People drink it through the monthly cycle, a cup or two a day in the week before and during a period, and many keep it simply as a caffeine-free stand-in for black tea.
The European Medicines Agency accepts Raspberry Leaf as a traditional herbal medicine for minor cramping around the monthly period, on the strength of long use, not clinical trials. Its best-known use, as a tea in late pregnancy, is less settled. A 2021 review of thirteen studies found the evidence weak, and the Agency advises against using it in pregnancy without professional supervision. So we describe how it is used, not what it will do.
How it's used
Raspberry Leaf is used in three main ways.
Tea. Steep 1 to 2 teaspoons of dried leaf in a cup of just-boiled water, covered, for 5 to 10 minutes. The flavour is mild and tea-like, and it sits well with Peppermint, Rose or a little honey.
Gargle. A strong cup of the tea, left to cool, is an old European gargle and mouth rinse.
Milled herb blend. The dried leaf is also smoked, as a light, neutral base leaf in a hand-rolled blend.
Raspberry Leaf is usually drunk as one to three cups a day.