Black Bean Calming Tea (Hei Dou An Shen Cha)

Why people make this tea

It is one of the most exhausting experiences a new parent faces: a baby who simply will not settle — crying at odd hours, sleeping fitfully, impossible to soothe. In Cantonese food therapy, one traditional explanation for this pattern in young infants is uncleared “fetal heat” (tai re) — a residual internal heat that the baby may have accumulated before birth if the mother ate warming foods during pregnancy. Whether or not one subscribes to that framework, this little three-ingredient tea has been recommended by Nourilo to hundreds of worried parents over the years, and the community feedback has been encouraging: many report that after two or three days of the tea, their baby’s sleep visibly improves. The formula is notably gentle — black bean is neutral in nature, liquorice is mild and sweet, and rush pith is only slightly cooling — making this one of the more balanced and reassuring options in infant food therapy.

Method

1. Soak the black beans in cold water for 1 hour. Discard the soaking water.
2. Rinse the liquorice root and rush pith gently.
3. Place all three ingredients with 1.5 L of water in a pot.
4. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 30 minutes, until the liquid reduces to roughly 600 ml.
5. Strain and allow to cool to a comfortable drinking temperature before giving to baby.
6. For breastfeeding mothers: drink 30 minutes before feeding so the baby benefits through the milk.
7. Serve over 1–2 days; repeat for a second round of 2–3 days if needed.

Nourilo’s Tips

Black beans for this tea do not need to be pan-fried first (that is only necessary if you are making a cold-steeped tea). For black beans used in a simmered tea like this, just soak and rinse. If you want to add lotus seeds for extra calming effect, use lotus seeds with the green embryo intact (you xin lian zi, 20 g) — the embryo has the most heart-clearing action. Frequency: once improvement is seen, 2–3 times per week as a maintenance tea until the baby settles consistently.