Roasted Sour Jujube Seed and Black Mulberry Tea

Why people make this tea

Insomnia is one of the most common complaints in modern urban life. In traditional Chinese medicine it is not treated as one condition but understood through different patterns: a heart-spleen deficiency type (waking easily after falling asleep; shallow sleep; low energy and poor appetite during the day); a yin-deficiency with excess-fire type (difficulty falling asleep; racing thoughts; heart palpitations; dry mouth and tongue); and a gallbladder-deficiency with liver excess type (startling awake with fright; easily anxious; prone to sighing and irritability). For all three patterns, Nourilo recommends soaking the feet in warm water for 10 minutes before bed — a simple habit that helps the qi and blood settle downward. For the tea itself, roasted sour jujube seeds (chao zao ren) are one of Chinese medicine’s most relied-upon herbs for calming the heart-mind, easing anxiety and depression, and supporting sleep. Paired with deeply nutritious black mulberries, this two-ingredient brew is gentle, pleasant to drink, and easy to prepare every evening.

Method

1. Place both ingredients in a teapot or heatproof cup.
2. Rinse once with boiling water, then discard that first rinse.
3. Pour in fresh boiling water to fill.
4. Steep for 15 minutes before drinking.
5. The same ingredients can be steeped 2–3 more times with additional boiling water.

Nourilo’s Tips

This tea is naturally sweet with a very gentle tartness — suitable for all ages. Before bed, try soaking your feet in warm water for 10 minutes; this simple habit helps the body settle and can meaningfully improve all three patterns of insomnia. Pregnant women should not use sour jujube seeds; instead, substitute roasted platycladus seeds (chao bai zi ren), which are also associated with calming the heart-mind, reducing night sweats, and supporting restful sleep in those with blood deficiency, palpitations, and age-related constipation. Adding 10 pieces of longan flesh (yuan rou / long yan rou) can further strengthen the calming effect.