It's past 9 PM and you still have something to do while your caffeine intake is beyond the limit. What should you drink?
Meet Chrysanthemum & Lavender !
Chrysanthemum is a flowering plant native to East Asia. In Oriental medicine, this plant is believed to contain an anti-inflammatory effect and lower blood levels. They also have a calming impact though chamomile is more known for this. Yet, they share the same family called Asteraceae.
In the past, I have consumed an instant Chrysanthemum. Now, I have dried baby Chrysanthemum, which tastes zillion times better than the instant drink. Since last week, I have been drinking this drinking to replace my coffee, especially now that I am awake and work around midnight.
There are two ways of brewing this flowering tea; the hot brew or the cold brew. But this time, we are going to do the hot mixture.
Brewing Chrysanthemum
Serving : 1 cup 250ml
- 250 ml hot water
- 1 teaspoon baby chrysanthemum/ chrysanthemum
- Steep for about 10 minutes
- Enjoy
The colour of the tea will be soft yellow with a mild, soothing and sweet aroma. As for the taste, it will be a bit tasteless but not too bad. It leaves a bit of mild sour and peppermint aftertaste. If you have not tried any flowering tea, this one will be perfect.
Meanwhile, Lavender is another option that you can try to drink at night. Lavender tea is also caffeine-free and is known to have calming effects and aids in sleeping. Unlike Chrysanthemum that focuses on anti-inflammatory properties, Lavender is more known for winding down. Another great benefit of Lavender tea is that it may improve mood and contains sedative properties, according to a journal titled Lavender and Nervous system. However, there is yet conclusive result about its efficacy. Another research conducted in Taiwan suggests that lavender tea, when taken daily for two weeks, increases energy and lessens depression. This research was conducted with postnatal women who have a low quality of sleep. However, again, there is no conclusive research on its efficacy.
But science aside, I enjoy drinking Lavender because it has a pleasant scent. It makes me feel calm and relaxed after a long day. I would say after Chamomile and Chrysanthemum, Lavender is my third favourite flowering tea.
How To Brew Lavender
Serving : 1 cup 250ml
- 250 ml hot water
- 1 teaspoon lavender
- Steep for about 10 minutes
- Strain the Lavender
- Enjoy
The colour of the tea will be soft purple with mild scent of lavender. As for the taste, it will be a bit tasteless but not too bad. There's also a hint of mint in the taste. I think that due to its specific benefits, if you have trouble sleeping, you might want to try this tea.
Though I am known as someone who enjoys drinking coffee and is all about coffee, I also care about tea since many of them have interesting properties. Some of them even have captured my attention due to neuropharmacology study. Indeed, I am quite aware of the distinction between the western and eastern view on medicine which I think has its pros and cons. As someone who lives in the east, these flowering teas are common; nevertheless, flowering tea is more like speciality tea than regular tea. So, it is a bit difficult obtaining them as they are not sold in the traditional store. By drinking flowering tea, I also learn about their properties and research their properties and usage.
The first flowering tea I had was five years ago when I went outside with a friend to a cafe. This colleague told me about chamomile tea which I think was unique. Before that, I have never tried any flowering tea. My family drinks tea but only regular loose tea. Then, my curiosity in teas grew only about four years ago when I started getting into nootropics.
Who would have thought that flowering teas can be delicious and caffeine-free? I didn't know that. But now I do and quite addicted to it. In the future, I would like to open a cafe filled with not only coffee but also teas with some knowledge of it. I don't want people to drink just because it's there. But I also want them to know the properties and their benefits though it may not be conclusive. Who knows, down the line, there will be more research on these flowering teas.
There are still many flowering teas that I have not tried, including rosebuds. It's on the way, so I will let you know all about rosebuds in my next post.
I usually have coffee in the morning in my daily life, but lately, I have to lessen my caffeine intake, replace them with flowering teas or green tea. My caffeine must be below 400mg as for the dosage, and I'll take about two cups of flowering teas. I don't like to add sugar, so sometimes, if I want it to be sweet, I will add honey.
Let me know in the comment section about your favourite flowering tea and the time that you take them.
The only kind of tea I have taken is coco tea while I have only taken coffee once this year. I can actually count the number of times I took coffee last year.
What's a coco tea? is it chocolate?
Yeah exactly.. Chocolate tea...
An absolutely STELLAR post @macchiata - I love the detail and the personal story behind it. I'm only familiar with chrysanthemum via the East/Asia, so I think chamomile would definitely replace it for me. I just picked a heap of lavender flowers for my oxymel (mugwort, tulsi, lavender, honey, ACV) and I'm finding that really helps me sleep. I'm going to make a sleepy tea soon with hops, lavender and lemon verbena and see what that tastes like! Hops can be so darn bitter though.
Oh - a fact? Some people get headaches from lavender - thank god not me!
That's interesting! I was about to write precautions too because some people are allergic to flowering tea. Thankfully, I am not one of those people. On the contrary, it's hard for me to find chamomile at the store, thankfully with online shopping, everything is much easier :D Have you ever tried rosebuds? I ordered it the other day and it's gonna be my first time drinking it.