Oregon Myrtle Nuts

Umbellularia californica

The Oregon Myrtle, also called the California Bay Laurel, is an indigenous and endemic tree to the Southern Oregon and Northern California region.  It only grows in this specific region where the coastal mountain ranges nestle against the Pacific.  Many parts of the tree, from the leaves, fruits, nuts, and wood, have been used throughout its history, not only by indegenous cultures that populated the region, but also as food and habitat for wildlife. It is a sacred and resilient tree.

Although not the same as the bay leaf that is commonly used in cooking, the leaves of the Oregon Myrtle have also been used for infusing its spicy pepper-like flavor into various food preparations. The tree produces a drupe, the fruit of the myrtle, that resembles a small avocado. Removing the outer flesh reveals a shelled nut or pit the size of a hazelnut. Inside that shell is the Oregon Myrtle nut (or the California Bay nut). The indigenous tribes of the Southern Oregon coastal region roasted their foraged myrtle nuts using a hot coal method from a fire pit.

At Wild Coast Brew, we wild-harvest myrtle nuts in the late fall. The outer flesh is removed and all shelled nuts are required to cure for a month. After the nuts have finished curing, they are roasted over high heat in their shells. This roasting process is necessary to cook off the bitter oils present within the nut. The nuts begin to take on a lovely chocolate-coffee aroma as they roast. We halt the roasting process when the nuts are a dark brown. It is a delicate process that takes time and experience to get right, as too much roasting and the nuts are burnt bitter, too little and their bitter oils remain. The nuts are then ground and processed into a finer grind for use in herbal infusions. From our forest to your cup.

The earth laid bare, scorched from a fire that tore through the year prior. Yet life remained still. New verdant sprouts scattered the ashy landscape like it was born anew. Some of the sprouts grew from the familiar nuts she had often foraged and eaten with her family, but others seemed to emerge from the base of the charred tree skeletons that remained, their dead trunks embossed with charcoal scales. She looked down at where one of the burnt trees burrowed into the soil and saw attached to the exposed roots were vibrant clusters of young sprouts with oblong waxy leaves. Through it all, the tree was still alive. How many fires had this tree seen and lived through?  How many times had these roots outlived their canopy?  How old was this tree?