Kudzu Flower Tea

Why people make this tea

Plenty of people find themselves in work situations where drinking is hard to decline entirely. A small amount of alcohol now and then is generally harmless, but frequent or heavy drinking puts real stress on the liver and stomach lining. Kudzu flower tea is one of the simplest and most time-honoured remedies in Chinese herbal food therapy for helping the body after alcohol exposure.

Kudzu (ge, Pueraria lobata) is a climbing vine whose root (ge gen) has become internationally recognised through research into its effects on alcohol metabolism. The flower of the same plant — ge hua — has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for centuries specifically to help “resolve alcohol toxins.” After a night out, if you wake up with a headache, dizziness, dry mouth or a sour, unsettled stomach, a warm cup of kudzu flower tea is the traditional first response. It is quick to brew, easy to source from Chinese herbal shops, and gentle enough to drink the morning after as well.

Method

1. Place the dried kudzu flower in a teapot, mug or infuser.
2. Pour a small amount of boiling water over the flowers to give a quick rinse, then discard this first rinse.
3. Pour fresh boiling water over the flowers again and steep for 5 minutes.
4. Drink warm. The tea can be re-steeped once or twice until the flavour fades.

Nourilo’s Tips

• Kudzu flower is the flower of the kudzu root plant (ge gen), a common ingredient in Chinese cooking soups. It is sold at most Chinese herbal medicine shops, sometimes in small pre-measured packets.
• This tea also helps with general headaches and dizziness, not only those caused by alcohol.
• For regular night-shift workers or those who feel constantly fatigued and run-down, Nourilo suggests a nourishing drink of snow fungus (xue er), apricot kernels (xing ren) and rock sugar (bing tang) — good for yin nourishment and general recovery — rather than relying on this tea, which is specifically for after alcohol.
• Pregnant women should not drink herbal flower teas.