Ume Plum, Licorice and Chrysanthemum Tea

Why people make this tea

There is a type of cough that does not come from a proper cold — it flares up when you walk past a frying kitchen, step into a dusty room, or smell something that disagrees with you. This “wind cough” or “allergic cough” is distinctly frustrating: ticklish, persistent, almost impossible to stop once it starts, and unresponsive to many standard cold remedies. Nourilo recommends this three-ingredient tea specifically for this pattern. Ume plum is one of the oldest documented astringent lung herbs in Chinese medicine — it is thought to gently gather and hold the lung’s energy so that the constant outward-expelling reflex of coughing can slow down. Licorice root both moistens and steadies, and chrysanthemum adds a wind-clearing, slightly cooling quality. Steeped together, the tea can be refilled multiple times and drunk throughout the day.