Once you have tried freshly brewed homemade chrysanthemum tea (菊花茶 guk fa cha), you will never think of buying and tasting commercially produced chrysanthemum tea anymore. Why? Coz it’s way tastier and healthier. The pure fragrance of dried chrysanthemum petals is just out of this world!
Love it!
Chrysanthemum tea is made from dried chrysanthemum petals. There are many types of dried chrysanthemum petals, some big, some small, some yellow and some white.
The one that I have at home is yellow and small dried chrysanthemum petals.
Do keep your dried chrysanthemum petals in fridge to prolong freshness.
Benefits of Chrysanthemum tea:
– A ‘cooling’ agent and contain detoxification properties.
– Yellow chrysanthemum reduces excess ‘heat’ in the body and treats flu symptoms.
– White chrysanthemum helps soothe the lungs and reduce phlegm.
According to the book; Cooking with Chinese Herbs, the best way to brew chrysanthemum tea is to steep the petals in freshly boiled water so that infusion occurs over a prolonged period of time. Rapid boiling tends to dissipate the flavor.
I’ve included 2 methods of preparing chrysanthemum tea. Feel free to try both ways. The recipe actually calls for 2 litre water, 150g rock sugar and 30g dried chrysanthemum petals for 4 person servings. As my teapot can only accommodate 1 litre of liquid, I’ve make some changes to the recipe to suit my teapot.
This is a tea which is really easy to brew at home and delicious. Take time to smell the floral aroma before drinking. Yum! Yu can also add wolfberries or dried red dates in the tea.
Chrysanthemum Tea
Adapted from Cooking with Chinese Herbs
Serves 2
1 liter water
70g rock sugar
10g dried chrysanthemum petals, rinsed
Method 1: Best way to brew chrysanthemum tea
1. Bring water to the boil. Add rock sugar.
2. When sugar has completely dissolved, place dried chrysanthemum petals in a teapot and pour sweetened water over.
3. Cover and steep for about 15 minutes to 1 hour.
Note: Feel free to add hot water to the pot again (a lighter less strong tea will be produced).
Method 2: Time-saver but less flavorful method to make chrysanthemum tea
1. Combine all ingredients in a pot and bring to the boil. Simmer for 30 minutes.
15 Comments
this is my favourite drink!but I never did make it by my own..usually I buy the one in box..
Hi Wawa, try making it. I bet you’ll love it more.
Long time ago, I used to make this tea too but along the way became lazy. Your pics gets back to me wanting to try out.
I think after some time passes I will be lazy as well. But one thing for sure is that I will never drink commercially produced chrysanthemum tea anymore.
Love chrysanthemum tea! 🙂
High 5! 🙂
Ah… chrysanthemum tea takes me back to my childhood! My mother always used to make me drink it {actually, still does!} as she says it’s good for me. Thankfully, as I’ve grown older, I’ve grown to enjoy it more and more. And I do believe some of traditional Chinese drinks, herbs, food is good for ones health. Although I do prefer some over others!
Yeah some Chinese herbs can be bitter but whatudo if we want good health, we need to drink it. 🙂
One of my fav tea minus the rock sugar. I didn’t know we need to put chrysanthemum petals in the fridge for freshness. I have an opened packet of chrysanthemum petals but put inside a ziplock. Will put it in the freezer!
What did you substitute rock sugar with? Red dates or none at all?
My mom store all her Chinese herbs in the fridge. Yo fridge ya. Not freezer!
This is lovely. Please consider submitting it to Healthy Aperture and sharing with our fans.
Hi, Just submitted. 🙂
[…] This is actually a dried chrysanthemum (which I’ve a big packet of it in my fridge to make chrysanthemum tea) only that it’s brownish in color. I use photoshop to change it to yellow. Not bad […]
Does it matter what type of Chrysanthemum plant I use? Are all varieties safe to use?
Hi Miriam, I bought mine from Chinese medicinal shop. Not sure if all varieties are safe to consume.