Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Posted by Miss Neddy at 10:53 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Flavoured

Ginseng tea can refer to infusions made from sliced or powdered ginseng, or to tea leaves that are flavoured with ginseng (usually in powder form). Ginseng is popular in China as a sovereign cure for many ills, but even more popular in Korea where ginseng is used more as a cooking ingredient than as a medicine. It is used in soups, stuffed in chickens, made into desserts and mixed with beverages such as tea and coffee, or even just eaten on its own.

In traditional Chinese medicine, standard grades of ginseng are mildly cooling, and its effects are highly similar to that of tea. Both tea and ginseng are supposed to relieve irritability, aid in digestion, clear the eyes, soothe headaches, reduce heatiness, promote clear thinking, and reduce fatigue. Both have legends of their divine origins - ginseng as the divine unity of all five elements (earth, fire, water, wood and metal), tea as the eyelids of the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma. Personally, I find ginseng tea is more effective than coffee for chasing away fatigue when I am burning the midnight oil.

To make your own ginseng tea, mix a small pinch of ginseng powder into your tea leaves before steeping, or stir in the powder after pouring out the tea. I would recommend a strong wulong or black tea to match the ginseng, and not green or white teas. This is for two reasons: Firstly, ginseng is known to be mildly cooling and if mixed with white or green tea (which are cooler than wulong and black) would be too cooling to be beneficial; secondly, green and white tea tend to be milder in fragrance and taste, and would be easily overpowered by the very strong-tasting ginseng. I would recommend a smoky wulong such as the range of Shuìxiān (水仙 or Narcissus) teas, or a black tea such as the Lapsang Souchong (正山小种).

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