Honeysuckle Chrysanthemum Flower Tea 金銀花白菊花茶 (jīn yín huā bái jú huā chá) is one of many Chinese “cooling teas’ or “涼茶” (liáng chá). They are more popular in the southern regions than the colder northern regions of China. I grew up drinking lots of it, especially after eating deep-fried things. Deep-fried foods can cause heatiness or 熱氣 rè qì/上火 shàng huǒ (Cantonese: yeet hei).
After doing a lot of eating during this Chinese New Year, I’m going to be making lots of teas to hopefully get my body back into balance. I know that I’m very 熱氣 right now because my throat feels a bit inflamed, I have a canker sore on my tongue and more occasional headaches. Other symptoms may include constipation, anxiety, skin breakouts, arthritic pain, lethargy, brain fog and smelly breath. These are just some of them but there are more. You can get a more accurate diagnosis from a Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner.
I love making Honeysuckle Chrysanthemum Flower Tea 金銀花白菊花茶 because it’s easy, effective and very tasty. I like it more when it’s sweetened with rock sugar or honey, but now that I’m in my 50’s, I really need to cut down on sugar! On the bright side, chrysanthemum flowers are very flavourful and the honey date gives it a bit of sweetness, so it’s still pretty good! And, I also really like the taste of the goji berries.
A lot of people ask if they can still use the herbs and dried flowers they found in their cupboards that has probably been there for years. If they smell like dirty socks or something funky like that, you should throw them out. Honeysuckle flowers have a subtle scent, not very flowery smelling. By itself, it can taste a bit bitter. Chrysanthemums have a unique sweet floral scent. If you’re at an herbal store, ask them if they can let you smell the difference between the different qualities. Generally, the more expensive they are, the better the scent and the more effective!
I like to buy chrysanthemum buds. These buds are picked before the chrysanthemums bloom. They keep their flavour better and you don’t get the pungent scent of the flowers. Their medicinal effects are also superior to bloomed chrysanthemums. I usually get at least 2 brews out of the amount of ingredients in the recipes; I just add more new goji berries.
Hope you try out my Honeysuckle Chrysanthemum Flower Tea 金銀花白菊花茶 recipe the next time you want to get rid of your heatiness and stay cool!
Check out my some of my other favourite teas:
- Longan Red Date Ginger Tea 桂圓紅棗姜茶
- Apple Fig Tea 蘋果無花果茶
- Watercress and Honey Tea 西洋菜蜜
- Three Reds Digestive Tea 三紅茶
- Throat Soothing Tea 羅漢果紅棗薑茶
Honeysuckle Chrysanthemum Flower Tea 金銀花白菊花茶
Ingredients
- 10 g Honeysuckle flowers (金銀花 jīn yín huā)
- 10 g Chrysanthemum flowers (白菊花/胎菊 bái jú huā/tāi jú)
- 10 g Goji berries (枸杞 góu qǐ)
- 1 Honey date (蜜棗 mì zǎo)
- 2 L Water
- 40 g Rock sugar (optional) (冰糖 bīng táng)
Instructions
- Procure the above ingredients preferably at a reputable herbal store because when it comes to herbs, quality is everything.
I like to use chrysanthemum flower buds because they have a lighter but strong aroma 
- Weigh 10g of honeysuckle flowers, 10g of chrysanthemum flowers, 10g of goji berries and 1 honey date
- Soak flowers and honey date for 5 minutes to get rid of dust and other impurities that are on them. Rinse and drain
- Add 2L water to a pot or an electric tea maker and add cleaned flowers and honey date
- Bring water to a boil and let it boil on medium heat for 25 minutes.
On a Chinese electric tea maker, there is usually a pre-programmed button for making flower teas. If you have one, you may use that setting - Clean, rinse and drain goji berries, however, if they are organic and look fairly clean, you do not need to wash them. They are soft and break apart easily so it’s better to not wash them, if not necessary
- If adding rock sugar, add it after 20 minutes
- After 25 minutes, turn off heat and add goji berries
- Keep covered for 5 minutes and serve
Note that the flowers are not usually eaten but it’s fine if you do. But you should definitely eat the goji berries - After the tea is finished, you can add another 2L water and reboil the ingredients. But of course, the flavour will be a lot weaker
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