Green Olive, Golden Monk Fruit & Snow Pear Water

Why people make this drink

The Chinese green olive (Canarium album, called qing lan) is quite different from the Mediterranean cured olives most Westerners know — it is eaten fresh, has a bitter-astringent taste at first bite that transforms into a lingering sweetness, and has been used in Chinese herbal medicine for centuries. Traditional texts credit it with clearing heat, detoxifying the body, dissolving phlegm, aiding digestion, and even neutralising the toxins from fish, crab, or accidental gas exposure. When in season, green olives are at their most fragrant and full-flavoured — a perfect time to make this drink. Combined with golden monk fruit — a gourd fruit dried at low temperature that produces a beautifully sweet, smoke-free brew — and cooling, moistening snow pear, this drink is naturally sweet, clear, and gentle. It is a traditional go-to for lung-heat coughs, sore dry throat, airway sensitivity, and as a supportive drink during upper respiratory illness or immune-support periods.