American Ginseng, Dendrobium and Ophiopogon Sweet Tea

Why people make this tea

Autumn in Hong Kong and southern China is dry — and anyone who regularly works late, skips sleep, or spends hours in air-conditioned spaces often notices the symptoms: a parched throat, a low-grade restlessness, dry eyes, and skin that no longer holds moisture the way it once did. In Chinese food therapy, this cluster of symptoms points to what is called “yin deficiency” — a concept describing a state where the body’s fluids and cooling reserves are depleted. This three-ingredient tea is one of Nourilo’s go-to recommendations for autumn dryness. Dendrobium is valued for generating fluids in the stomach and clearing mild internal heat; ophiopogon root is one of the oldest documented herbs for nourishing lung and heart yin; and American ginseng (cooler and more moistening than Asian ginseng) rounds it all out. The result is a pleasant, lightly sweet drink that does not taste strongly medicinal.