Honeysuckle Chrysanthemum drink (金銀花菊花茶)

Just thought I'd share a really simple 'cooling' drink to make in this sweltering heat! Made this on Friday night but had no time to blog at all through the weekend.

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.

Another alternative is to combine chrysanthemum with luo han guo (Buddha's fruit). That's nice and nourishing without being too 'cooling'. :)

Honeysuckle Chrysanthemum drink (金銀花菊花茶)

Ingredients:

• 3 handfuls of chrysanthemum flower
• 1 pinch of honeysuckle (don't add too much as it will cause the drink to be bitter)
• rock sugar to taste (I usually put 2 handfuls of small bits of rock sugar)
• about 1L water

Method:

1. 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.
2. Add the rock sugar to the water in a pot and bring to a boil.
3. When the water's boiling, turn off the fire and add the chrysanthemum and honeysuckle.
4. Let it sit for about 30min.
5. Sieve out the chrysanthemum and honeysuckle and your 'cooling' drink's ready!
6. Serve warm or chilled.

Follow the steps for plain chrysanthemum tea - just omit the honeysuckle