It may not be found in your grandmother’s breakfast menu. The common impression is that poppy pod tea should not even be considered a beverage. However, despite the controversies hounding it, many still take it regularly for all that makes it different from other beverages. Some would preach it is deadly like all other narcotics. Some, however, continue to insist that it is as harmless as coffee if taken in moderation.

Derived from the controversial poppies, the poppy pod tea is a natural subject of debates.  Its drinkers insist that it should be taken for its medicinal values. Its detractors, on the other hand, find danger in its addictiveness and lethalness when drank in large doses. However, its adversaries, most oftentimes, base their conclusions on the poppy pod tea not on its positive and negative aspects but on prejudice: it comes from opium, is it not?

The poppy pod tea is a natural narcotic analgesic tea brewed from dried poppy pods.  Its earliest drinkers did not have it for leisure. In the 19th century, its curative characteristic had persuaded many prominent people in the field of science and politics to drink it regularly. People also drank it to relieve them of their depression and other mental-related irregularities. In world where doctors are regularly prescribing medical drugs made of synthetic chemicals from toxic origins, the poppy pod tea may be an alternative relief. 

Different kinds of poppies possess an amount of psychoactive alkaloids. The opium poppy, however, has long been known to possess the most substantial of this element; making it the preferred source of poppy seeds for brewing into a tea. Morphine, papaverine, thebein, and codeine, which are alkaloids found in dried poppy seeds also cause light-headedness, pleasurable sensations, and drowsiness. Individuals suffering from serious emotional and profession-related stress have used opium poppies. A ‘downer’, opium eases them from depression and insomnia. This explains why a number of famous people have drunk poppy pod teas to beat stress related to their jobs.

For anyone who has poppy seeds, making a poppy pod tea is quite easy.  You just have to grind the poppy pods into the smallest bits, making it simply dissolvable in boiling water. The seeds are first removed then the dried poppy pods are ground.    If it is just your first time, a small amount of dried poppy pod granules should be enough. When done grinding, pour the poppy pod bits to your boiling water. Leave it boiling for another five minutes. Then pour it to a cup through a filter made from a t-shirt cloth, to keep off the granules of pod.

It is true, though, that you can get addicted to poppy pod teas. This may even kill you if you drink more than your body can actually handle. Practicing a good amount of self-regulation will help you avoid the risks. Drinking too many may only give you the chances that you will no longer drink at all, not even water.