Dried Lychee Xiao Yao Tea (Free & Easy Wanderer Tea)

Why people make this tea

Low mood, emotional flatness, and a persistent sense of joylessness are experiences many people — especially women navigating the hormonal changes of perimenopause and menopause — know well. In traditional Chinese medicine, this cluster of symptoms is often understood as “liver qi stagnation” (gan qi yu jie) — a state in which the liver’s natural tendency to keep energy and emotions flowing freely has become blocked, leaving a person feeling tight, suppressed, and unable to relax.

The classical formula for this is Xiao Yao San — literally “Free and Easy Wanderer” — a roughly 1,000-year-old prescription built around bupleurum and white peony root. Nourilo’s adaptation takes those core herbs and wraps them in the gentleness of dried lychee (which nourishes the liver and calms the heart), lily bulb (which settles the mind), white atractylodes (which supports the digestive foundation that emotional wellbeing depends on), and chrysanthemum (which cools any heat that has built up from prolonged emotional tension).

The result is a tea with a mild, slightly earthy-sweet flavour that both men and women can drink. It is particularly well-suited to women in the lead-up to menopause, when hormonal fluctuations can amplify emotional sensitivity and make everyday stresses feel overwhelming.