Herbal tea remedies: Chrysanthemum

So here I am sick, yet again, with bacterial tonsillitis, no thanks to the bipolar weather we have been experiencing in the last few days. Those residing in Australia who watch the news would have heard that it was unusually windy and cold last Friday in Brisbane and the surrounding areas, such that some regions actually experienced snow, like Stanthorpe, and others had rooves ripped off houses. Snow in Spring - another side effect of global warming, no doubt. To all the people who have, in the past, decided to not care about the hole in our ozone layer, or about carrying out green practices, with the rationale that they would not be alive to see the future damages anyway, thanks a lot. That inevitable future has arrived. A lot could be said about current practices as well, but I shall refrain myself from getting too political, and off-track, besides.

Thus, the medication cycle begins again, and, to speed up the process of recovery, the herbal teas also make an appearance again. I brewed some chrysanthemum tea last night, so I thought I'd share some information about this herbal infusion on my blog.

Chrysanthemum tea is a 'cooling' herbal beverage that has been consumed by the Chinese since the Song Dynasty. Traditionally, it's used to help treat conditions caused by 'excessive heat' in the body, such as sore throat (in traditional Chinese medicine, they have a hot/cold theory). These days, this tea can be found in popper form, bottled, or canned, in most Asian grocery stores. However, these mostly contain sugar and water, so, although they may taste good, they are unlikely to impart any health benefits. It's not hard to make your own, and I personally much prefer a homemade infusion. You can buy packets of dried chrysanthemum for this from most Asian grocery stores and at traditional Chinese medicinal stores. If you have fresh white chrysanthemums that you want to use instead, great, but take note that there are quite a few different species of this flower, and not all are for culinary use. Wikipedia tells me it's the C. morifolium species that is used, but I'd look into the references, if you're planning to go down this route.

Just like how you would brew normal tea, simply bring some water to the boil; take off the heat; add some dried white chrysanthemum flowers; and allow to steep. Sweeten with golden rock sugar, according to taste preferences, and sieve before serving. You can do this in a teapot, in a cup, or in a small saucepan, if making a larger quantity, like what I did. This tea can be served hot or chilled. I generally prefer the latter, but it's nice to have it hot when the weather is cool.

In the infusion pictured above, I actually also added a bit of dried Japanese honeysuckle flowers, which is another flower with 'cooling' properties. This can also be sourced from the abovementioned shops.

Don't you just love flowers that have practical uses? Ah, but make sure you are careful with who you give fresh white chrysanthemum flowers to. In Australia, and perhaps in other Western countries as well, the chrysanthemum is traditionally the Mother's Day flower; however, in some European countries and in most Asian countries, white chrysanthemums are only used during funerals and as offerings at burial sites, so giving them to people are as much of a mistake as giving someone a clock as a present.

Enjoy your new summer tea infusion!

Edit: 22-10-12 Please remember to sieve out the flowers before consuming! I was too lazy to, and I think I ended up with skin contact allergy from either the chrysanthemums, honeysuckle, or both. My neck and face were red and itchy, but went away after 2 days of taking an antihistamine. I'm not 100% sure it's definitely due to the flowers, since I've had this tea many times in the past without any problems, but I think to be on the safe side, I will sieve the solids out in the future.