Glehnia, Rehmannia and Dendrobium Decoction

Why people make this tea

After a late-night banquet — the kind where abalone, fish maw and deep-fried crab claws appear in quick succession — Nourilo found himself lying awake with a bloated, gnawing discomfort in his stomach. By the next morning the feeling had settled into something drier and more persistent: a bitter taste, a dry mouth, and that vaguely hollow, noisy stomach sensation that Chinese food therapy calls wei guan cao za (胃脘嘈杂). He brewed a pot of pu-erh tea first to cut through the richness, then cooked a batch of this four-herb decoction. The experience reminded him of something worth knowing: no food is too nourishing to cause harm if you eat too much at once, and the stomach’s yin — its moistening, digestive juice-producing capacity — is surprisingly easy to deplete with overindulgence, prolonged illness, or chronic stress.