Pseudostellaria Root and Smoked Plum Tea

Why people make this tea

Not all coughs are the same. There is the obvious, wet, productive cough of an active infection — and then there is the other kind: a dry, nagging cough that lingers for weeks after an illness has mostly resolved, often accompanied by tiredness, a dry throat, and a general feeling of low energy. In traditional Chinese food therapy, this second type is often described as a “lung qi and yin deficiency” pattern.

Pseudostellaria root (tai zi shen) is a mild but reliable tonic herb that belongs to the carnation family rather than the true ginseng family — making it noticeably gentler in nature. It has a long history of use in China for people who need some support but cannot tolerate the stronger warming ginsengs. Paired with smoked plum’s astringent, lung-gathering quality and liquorice’s harmonising sweetness, this three-ingredient tea is a classic formula for a cough that just will not quite finish.