The Silver Needle White Tea is made from the plump buds of the large-leaf white tea plant. The buds are covered in white down, have a color like silver, and a shape resembling a needle; they have a fresh aroma with a distinct downy scent and a taste that is harmonious, refreshing, and sweet. The infusion is bright and pale apricot in color. When steeped in a cup, the tea buds slowly sink to the bottom, unfurling upright as if they were slender silver needles or pointed bamboo shoots, creating a remarkable sight. It has a fresh downy aroma and a sweet and mellow flavor, making it a high-quality tea. Silver Needle White Tea is known for its ability to improve eyesight and reduce internal heat, and can treat severe cases of heat. Because it requires specific tea plant varieties and processing techniques, its annual production is very low. Therefore, it is a rare treasure among white teas.
Throughout the year, nature undergoes cyclical changes: spring sprouting, summer growth, autumn harvest, and winter dormancy. As seasons change, natural environments, temperatures, and human physiological functions also alter. To better preserve health and ensure physical and mental well-being, choosing suitable teas and tea-based health preservation methods for different seasons is essential.
We have compiled health-preserving recipes for each season—spring, summer, autumn, and winter—for our readers.
Spring Tea Health Preservation Recipes
Spring is the beginning of the year, marked by gentle winds, pleasant sunshine, and a festive atmosphere. During this time, families often host banquets. Drinking fragrant flower teas can help uplift the spirit and dispel accumulated cold within the body, promoting the generation of yang energy. Alternatively, drinking black tea can help digest the richness of banquets.
Heat-Clearing and Stomach-Strengthening Three Sages Tea
Benefits: Clears stomach heat, generates body fluid, relieves thirst, improves digestion, and is suitable after heavy drinking or overeating greasy foods.
Prescription: 4.5 grams each of scorched hawthorn, scorched malt, and scorched maltose (scorched Three Sages), 4.5 grams of scorched Citrus peel, 3 grams of Tangerine peel, 2.5 grams of wine-cooked Chinese goldthread, 9 grams of raw rehmannia, 9 grams of Chrysanthemum, 2 grams of fresh rhizome (chopped), and 2.5 grams of bamboo leaves.
Usage: Decoct and drink as tea.
Orange Peel Three Sages Tea
Benefits: Disperses cold, regulates qi, improves digestion, and is suitable for food accumulation, alcohol-induced discomfort, and wind-cold coughs.
Prescription: 18 grams each of scorched hawthorn, scorched malt, and scorched maltose (scorched Three Sages), and two slices of orange peel.
Usage: Decoct and drink as tea.
Sugarcane Black Tea
Benefits: Clears heat, generates body fluid, wakes up the mind, and soothes the stomach. It is ideal for dry climates, thirst, itching coughs, and overindulgence in fatty foods.
Prescription: 500 grams of sugarcane, 5 grams of black tea.
Usage: Peel and chop the sugarcane, then decoct it with the black tea. Drink as tea.
Chrysanthemum Green Tea Beverage
Benefits: Clears heat, detoxifies, prevents colds, calms the mind, and improves vision. It is suitable for the fluctuating weather and dryness of spring, as well as liver heat, headaches, red eyes, and hangovers.
Prescription: 12 grams of Kaifeng chrysanthemum, 5 grams of green tea, 30 grams of sugar.
Usage: Decoct and drink as a substitute for tea, one dose per day.
Summer Tea Health Preservation Recipes
Summer is the season when all things grow. Plants flourish, and crops thrive, presenting a scene of vibrant life. However, the scorching sun and sweltering heat can be oppressive, causing fatigue and thirst. Therefore, people seek cool places to rest. To better preserve health and beat the heat, drinking teas like green tea is recommended.
Heat-Clearing and Humidity-Resolving Tea
Benefits: Clears heat, resolves dampness, harmonizes the spleen and stomach, and clears the head and eyes. Suitable for summer heat affecting the spleen, dizziness, fatigue, poor appetite, and thirst.
Prescription: Two branches of fresh rhizome (chopped), 4.5 grams of bamboo leaf extract, 9 grams of scorched hawthorn, 9 grams of stir-fried foxtail millet sprout, 2.4 grams of orange peel, and 6 grams of frosted mulberry leaf.
Usage: Decoct and drink as a substitute for tea.
Heat-Relieving Tea
Benefits: Cool, relieves heat, quenches thirst, prevents heatstroke, and treats heatstroke symptoms.
Prescription: 150 grams of wormwood, 120 grams of raw gypsum, 150 grams of mint leaves, 30 grams of licorice.
Preparation: Grind the above ingredients into fine powder, mix evenly, and prepare 10 packets.
Usage: Use one-third of a packet at a time, steep with boiling water, and drink three times daily.
Cooling Tea
Benefits: Clears heat, relieves heatstroke, quenches thirst, cools off, and treats heatstroke discomfort, common colds throughout the year, fever, and indigestion.
Prescription: This is a traditional Chinese medicine product produced by Chinese herbal factories, including famous cooling teas like Wanglaoji. It is made from wormwood, lotus leaf, talc, rhizome, licorice, and other herbs, packaged in 50-gram portions.
Usage: Follow the package instructions.
Lemon Tea
Benefits: Prevents heatstroke, generates body fluid, soothes the stomach, and stops diarrhea. Treats food stagnation, acute gastroenteritis, diarrhea, vomiting, and is also suitable as a cooling health beverage during summer.
Prescription: One lemon.
Usage: Boil the lemon, peel it, and dry it. Place it in a porcelain jar and pickle it with an appropriate amount of salt. Use one lemon at a time, add a bowl of boiling water, cover, and steep for 15 minutes before drinking as a substitute for tea.
Autumn Tea Health Preservation Recipes
The golden autumn season is a time of harvest, filled with joy and a pleasant climate that benefits both body and mind. Choosing green tea, black tea, kombucha, or other teas based on personal constitution and preferences can help maintain health, cultivate one's character, and bring pleasure while extending longevity.
Azolla Body Fluid Tea
Benefits: Generates body fluid, nourishes yin, clears heat, and moistens dryness. Treats dry mouth and throat, thirst, and dry cough caused by autumn dryness. Also treats fever due to heatstroke, which injures lung and stomach yin, causing dryness and coughing with white foam that sticks and is uncomfortable.
Prescription: Five azollas (crushed), 6 grams of dendrobium, 6 grams of chrysanthemum, five water chestnuts (peeled), 9 grams of raw ophiopogon, two fresh rhizomes (chopped), 9 grams of mulberry leaf, 6 grams of bamboo leaf extract, ten fresh lotus petals, and two pears (peeled).
Usage: Decoct and serve as a tea.
Mulberry Leaf and Apricot Tea
Benefits: Lightly dispels dryness, moistens the lungs, and stops coughing. Treats dry cough without phlegm and headache with fever due to autumn dryness.
Prescription: 9 grams each of mulberry leaf, apricot kernel, radix