Just thought I’d share a really simple ‘cooling’ drink to make in this sweltering heat!
Just for information, honeysuckle is not suitable for young children so do not feed this to your little ones. It’s too ‘cooling’ for them; chrysanthemum tea alone is fine (even then, I think diluted in the ratio of 1:1 would be better – I did give Alicia that – and probably once a week is more than enough for young kids).
Honeysuckle, according to the TCM doctor I spoke to, is extremely cooling so unless you’re super heaty or are recovering from a high fever etc., it’d be wise not to consume this often.
- 3 handfuls of chrysanthemum flowers
- a pinch of honeysuckle (don't add too much as it will cause the drink to be bitter)
- rock sugar to taste
- about 1.5L water
- Rinse the chrysanthemum flower and honeysuckle to get rid of dirt. Do not soak for long as the taste of the chrysanthemum would then go into the water that it was soaked in.
- Add the rock sugar to the water in a pot and bring to a boil.
- When the water's boiling, turn off the fire and add the chrysanthemum and honeysuckle.
- Let it steep for about 30min.
- Sieve out the chrysanthemum and honeysuckle and your 'cooling' drink's ready!
- Serve warm or chilled.
Another alternative is to combine chrysanthemum with luo han guo (Buddha’s fruit). That’s nice and nourishing without being too ‘cooling’. 🙂
Click the link for the complete list of drink recipes (with thumbnails) on the blog.
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Hi Angie,
I stumble into your blogg as I was searching for the benefits of honeysuckle flower and combo of lo han kou.
I did notice you’re saying- not give honeysuckle to children, but to which age is it? Toddlers or babies or overall for children?
Thank you for your advice.
Have a nice day. Greetings from Sweden.
Regards,
Chanel
Hi, the advice was given to me by the person manning the Chinese Medical Hall some years back. I cannot recall the age that it is safe to do so, but my kids are in elementary school now and they have no adverse reaction to it. Take a small amount of the drink to test first, but in general, I would not recommend it for children younger than 2 years.