Three-Jujube Wheat Rice Tea (San Zao Mai Mi Cha)

Why people make this tea

Urban life — long hours, blue light, disrupted sleep, constant low-grade stress — has a visible effect on the face: a dull, yellowish complexion, uneven skin tone, or stubborn spots. Traditional Chinese medicine sees this as a reflection of sluggish qi and blood flow. The remedy is not just topical but internal: move the blood, nourish the liver, calm the mind. Nourilo recommends hawthorn tea to help move stagnant blood, and various flower teas (rose, silktree albizzia) to smooth out emotional tension. But for a gentle, daily nourishing tea that addresses the root cause — insufficient blood and disrupted spirit — this three-date and wheat rice blend is hard to beat. The old saying goes: “Eat three dates a day and youth will never fade” and “Grain with great dates outperforms lingzhi mushroom.” This tea takes that folk wisdom and turns it into a simple, delicious daily ritual.

Method

1. Pit the red dates and slice them. Rinse the southern dates and honey date.
2. Place all three dates and the roasted wheat berries in a small pot with 1.2 L of water.
3. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 20 minutes, until reduced to about 2 cups.
4. Pour and drink warm. The dates can be eaten if desired.

Nourilo’s Tips

This tea is fragrant and naturally sweet — pleasant enough to drink daily without needing any added sweetener. Southern dates (nan zao) are a premium ingredient worth seeking out: look for them in the refrigerated section of Chinese herb shops or well-stocked Asian grocery stores. Genuine nan zao is noticeably different from ordinary black dates or cheap ma ya zao (horse-tooth dates), which have very different therapeutic properties, and is well worth the extra cost for regular use. For anyone with dampness or phlegm, consider clearing that first with poria (fu ling), white atractylodes (bai zhu), and hyacinth bean coat (bian dou yi) before adding this nourishing tea to your routine.