Longan and cinnamon black tea
Black tea steeped with sweet dried longan, cinnamon bark and red dates — a cosy, warming cup for cold-handed afternoons in the air-conditioning.
- 13 min
- Serves 2
- Simmer
- Easy
Why it suits you: Mornings and evenings start to hint at coolness after Start of Autumn while the air-conditioning stays fierce, and a Yang-deficient constitution easily gets cold hands and feet and low energy. Longan warms and nourishes the heart and spleen and cinnamon warms kidney yang; with black tea, it's a warming afternoon pick-me-up.
Method
Prep 3 min · Cook 10 min- 1Rinse the longan; halve and stone the red dates. Put them in a pan with the cinnamon and water, bring to the boil, then simmer gently for 8 minutes.
- 2Turn off the heat, add the tea leaves and steep for 3 minutes, then strain into cups.
Cautions
- Cinnamon is very hot, so avoid this if you have a dry mouth, sore throat or acne, or are pregnant; black tea contains caffeine, so skip it in the evening.
Chef's tips
- Don't boil the tea leaves with the cinnamon — add them off the heat and steep so the tea doesn't turn bitter.
The TCM view
Longan is sweet and warm, nourishing the heart and spleen, building blood and calming the spirit. Cinnamon bark is pungent, sweet and very hot, reinforcing the body's fire and yang, dispersing cold and easing pain. Black tea is sweet and warm and warms the stomach, and red dates nourish the middle and boost qi. Warms the yang of the heart and kidneys — suited to Yang deficiency.
