Kunlun Snow Chrysanthemum Tea

Why people make this tea

Snow chrysanthemum (xue ju) is harvested from the high-altitude cliffs of the Kunlun Mountains in China’s Xinjiang region, at elevations where few plants survive and human habitation is minimal. The flowers must be picked at first light, when they are fully intact, making harvesting particularly labor-intensive. The resulting tea is striking — it brews into a deep amber liquid that looks almost like aged pu-erh tea, but has a smooth, slightly sweet, almost honeyed flavor without any bitterness. In traditional food therapy, snow chrysanthemum is associated with a remarkable range of benefits: supporting healthy blood pressure, blood lipids, blood sugar, and even sleep quality. For anyone dealing with or concerned about the “three highs” (hypertension, high cholesterol, and elevated blood sugar), this is a tea worth knowing about.