Pau d'Arco Bark: What It Is, How It's Simmered, and What's Known

By Suhail Rivera, JD, founder of Alkaline Herb Shop

Pau d'arco is the inner bark of a flowering tree from Central and South America, brewed as a tea for a very long time in the places it grows. You will see it spelled pau d arco, pau darco, paud arco and taheebo, and you will see a great many claims attached to it online. This guide covers what the tree is, what the bark is, how it is actually prepared, what it tastes like, and why we are not repeating those claims.

The tree and the bark

Pau d'arco comes from trees in the genus Handroanthus, formerly grouped under Tabebuia, which grow across the warmer parts of the Americas. They are the trees that erupt in pink or yellow trumpet flowers, and the wood is famously dense. The name is Portuguese and means, roughly, bow stick, because the wood was used to make hunting bows.

The part used for tea is the inner bark, the layer between the rough outer bark and the wood. It is stripped, dried, and cut. In Spanish speaking countries you will also hear lapacho, and in older herb books, taheebo. All three names point to the same material.

How pau d'arco tea is made

This one is not a steeper. Bark is woody and dense, and pouring hot water over it the way you would over a leaf gets you very little. Pau d'arco is traditionally simmered, which herbalists call a decoction.

The usual method is about one tablespoon of cut and sifted bark per two cups of water, brought to a boil and then held at a low simmer for fifteen to twenty minutes, covered, before straining. Some traditions simmer it considerably longer. The liquid comes out a clear reddish brown, deeper the longer you go. It keeps in the refrigerator for a couple of days and is commonly drunk cool as well as hot.

What does pau d'arco taste like?

Woody, earthy and faintly bitter, with a dryness at the back of the sip. It is closer to a bark tea like cinnamon without the sweetness than to anything herbal and green. People who like sarsaparilla root or other root and bark brews usually get along with it immediately. It takes honey well, and a slice of lemon cuts the bitterness if you find it heavy.

About the claims you will find elsewhere

Pau d'arco is one of the most aggressively marketed herbs on the internet, and much of what is written about it makes serious medical claims. We are not going to repeat any of them.

Here is the honest state of it. Laboratory work has looked at compounds isolated from the bark, and isolated compounds studied in a dish are not the same thing as a cup of tea in a person. Human clinical evidence for the tea is very limited. Where higher doses of isolated constituents have been tested in people, tolerability has been a real issue. None of that adds up to a health benefit we could stand behind, so we do not assert one. It is a traditional bark tea, sold as a food, and that is what we sell it as.

Where to get pau d'arco bark

We sell Pau D'Arco Bark, 4 oz, cut and sifted, one ingredient and nothing added, for tea. Cut and sifted is the right form for a simmer, because the pieces are small enough to give up their color and flavor in twenty minutes but large enough to strain out cleanly. Whether you follow an alkaline lifestyle or simply keep a shelf of whole herbs, it stores well in a sealed jar away from light.

Who should skip it

• Anyone pregnant or nursing should not drink pau d'arco. Skip it entirely and talk to your doctor if you have questions.
• Anyone taking a blood thinner, or with a bleeding disorder, or with surgery scheduled, should talk to a doctor or pharmacist before drinking it.
• Anyone taking any medication or managing a health condition should ask a professional first. Strong bark decoctions are not a casual addition.
• Start with a mild brew rather than a long simmer, and do not treat more as better.

Suhail Rivera, JD, is the founder of Alkaline Herb Shop. She has spent years sourcing, handling, and selling the herbs she writes about, working directly with growers and third party testing labs. She holds a Juris Doctor. She is not a medical professional, and her articles are for general information, not medical advice. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist before starting any herb, especially if you are pregnant, nursing, taking medication or managing a health condition. Read more about her and the store on the About page.