Can real straw be used as a natural drinking straw?

Question

I'm wondering if grass (or something else) straw was ever used for making drinking straws before plastic ones were made.

My daughter loves having a straw in her drink but it irks me to have to throw a piece of plastic in the rubbish each time she gets one. I know there are paper ones on the market, but it would be neat to be able to make our own out of real straw if it was safe and effective.

Has anyone tried doing this? If so, is it as simple as just cutting a mature stalk of grass and drying it?

It's worth noting that there are glass straws for sale too if you look hard enough, but I imagine they would be difficult to clean, fragile, as well as being expensive.

Answer 1

Example of two edible plants growing in Europe which can be used as a drinking straw:

• lovage - This plant is being used in salads and soups. The stem could be about 30 cm long and 2 cm in diameter. The plant has a pleasant aroma somewhat similar to celery. Here is an example of lovage as a drinking straw.
  
  ^{"Liebstöckel" by 4028mdk09 - Own work. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons}
• impatiens glandulifera - This is an invasive plant in Europe. The plant contains a high amount of calcium oxalate so it is not recommended to eat it in large quantities. I guess that not much of the oxalate will get into the drink. The stem could be more than 2 m long and 5 cm in diameter. Here is a short text about edibility of himalayan balsam and an example of himalayan balsam as a drinking straw.
  
  ^{"Impatiens glandulifera Royle (7677059600)" by Udo Schmidt from Deutschland - Impatiens glandulifera RoyleUploaded by Amada44. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons}

Both plants will add some aroma to the drink which could be used as an advantage. Also I think both plants are usable only fresh (not dried) as a drinking straw.

Answer 2

I've done this to get a drink from a very shallow spring (seep really) Most grasses stems are small in diameter, and you have to suck pretty hard to get fluid through them. In addition, you have to cut the stem with an eye on the nodes (fat bits) in the stem. They aren't hollow there.

If you are serious about this, look at some the varieties of bamboo, which grows much the same way as grasses do. You need a variety for your climate that has enough distance between nodes to make a usable straw.

Plastic straws can be reused. Wash in hot soapy water, and rinse well. Rinse promptly when they have been used for something like OJ that has bits of pulp in it. These tend to stick and be hard to remove if left to dry. I don't see any reason you couldn't get several dozen uses per straw.

Answer 3

Yes, you do want to make sure they are not poisonous. I came across this site because I was looking for drinking straw material. 25 years ago in Japan I used to go to a place that roasted their own coffee beans. That was new to me and I would have an iced coffee while I waited. The woman their provided these lovely dried reeds for straws. They worked great and didn't add any unwanted flavour so I know these straws exist somewhere.

Answer 4

In so far as I am aware, drinking straws were originally made from straw, the hollow shaft cut from wheat or barley, hence the name.

Regular grass, like hay, is probably too thin to be useful, but I imagine if you can find an edible plant with a hollow stalk that you can dry, it would probably be suitable to your needs. The recomended material, of course, would be straw.

Answer 5

My mum told me that during the war she went out to find hollow stemmed weeds from the fields to dry in the oven to make drinking straws. Unfortunately she's not here now to tell me what plant was used. I think it might be a good idea to ask members of the older generations who have a wealth of knowledge in these matters.