Mulberry Berry, Goji & Longan Tea

Why people make this tea

City life — and increasingly everywhere — runs on long hours, screens, and stress. When someone runs too long on too little rest, a particular pattern of symptoms tends to emerge: persistent low-grade dizziness, a hollow tired feeling, difficulty falling or staying asleep, mild anxiety, a pale complexion, and cold hands and feet. Traditional Chinese food therapy describes this as “qi-blood deficiency” — the tank running low. This three-ingredient tea is Nourilo’s gentle go-to remedy for exactly that pattern. It can also support those dealing with anxiety, obsessive tendencies, or mild low mood where the underlying cause is blood-qi weakness rather than excess heat.

Method

1. Place all three ingredients in a teapot or infuser.
2. Rinse once with boiling water and discard that first rinse.
3. Pour in fresh boiling water and steep for 10 minutes.
4. Drink warm. The same ingredients can be re-steeped until the flavour fades.

Nourilo’s Tips

For those with symptoms, this tea can be drunk daily until things improve, then reduced to 3 times a week as maintenance. Dark (near-black) mulberries are preferred over yellow or brownish ones — the darker colour indicates a higher concentration of anthocyanins. Dried mulberries are available at Chinese herbal medicine shops and online Asian grocers. Store a large bag in the freezer or refrigerator to keep them fresh. If a reader with internal heat or yin deficiency wants to use this tea, Nourilo suggests removing longan and replacing it with 1 tablespoon each of bayberry kernels (bai zi ren) and Chinese wolfberry, and adding a small amount of sour jujube seeds (suan zao ren) — this formulation is more balanced for a yin-deficient constitution.