🌿 Folk Prescriptions

In China, there is an old saying: “Seven essentials of household life—firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, and tea,” illustrating how indispensable tea is in Chinese people’s lives. While most know tea brings pleasure and health benefits, few realize that tea drinking also involves wisdom—what kind of tea to drink varies significantly by season. Traditional Chinese medicine advocates: drink floral tea in spring, green tea in summer, oolong tea in autumn, and black tea in winter.
Spring: Drink Floral Tea
Most regions in China have a monsoon climate with distinct seasons—spring warmth, summer heat, autumn coolness, winter cold. During spring, when the wind revives nature and yang energy rises, bringing vitality to all things, people commonly feel lethargic and tired, a condition known as “spring fatigue.” Drinking floral tea can alleviate this discomfort. Floral tea has a sweet, cool nature combined with aromatic, pungent dispersion, which helps expel accumulated cold from winter, promote the rise of internal yang energy, and refresh the spirit, naturally relieving spring fatigue.
Floral tea is a premium blend combining the exquisite taste of tea with the fragrance of flowers. “Flowers enhance tea aroma, complementing each other perfectly.” It is made by mixing tea leaves with flowers through scenting and fermentation, using the tea’s ability to absorb fragrance and the flower’s ability to release aroma. Jasmine tea is the most famous example because jasmine’s fragrance is delicate and refined, blending well with tea to produce a rich, refreshing, and pleasant flavor. High-grade floral tea should be brewed in transparent glass cups: use 3 grams of tea, pour water at about 90°C (slightly cooled from boiling), cover immediately to preserve aroma, and steep for 2–3 minutes before drinking. The result is an intoxicating fragrance that uplifts the spirit.
Summer: Drink Green Tea
In hot summer days, the sun blazes fiercely, people sweat profusely, lose physical strength, and feel mentally drained—making green tea ideal. Green tea is unfermented and has a cold nature; “cold clears heat,” making it excellent for cooling down, quenching thirst, aiding digestion, dissolving phlegm, and accelerating healing of mild oral or gastric ulcers. It is rich in nutrients and offers medicinal values such as lowering lipids and preventing vascular hardening. After brewing, green tea has clear, pale water, subtle fragrance, and fresh taste. Regular summer consumption provides cooling relief, refreshes the body, and strengthens health. Among green teas, Longjing from Hangzhou’s Lion Peak stands out—its color is emerald green, its aroma fragrant and pleasant, earning it the title “the best green tea in China.” Biluochun from Taihu Lake in Jiangsu features bright jade-green leaves and strong fragrance; Huangshan Mao Feng from Anhui offers a clean, refreshing taste.
To brew green tea, use boiling water at 90°C. For high-grade or tender varieties, use water at 80°C to avoid overheating delicate buds and low-boiling-point fragrant compounds. Do not cover the cup during brewing to prevent steam buildup, which could dull the freshness of the tea.
Autumn: Drink Oolong Tea
In autumn, skies are clear and vast, winds are crisp, plants wither, and the climate becomes dry, causing dry mouth, chapped lips—known in traditional medicine as “autumn dryness.” At this time, oolong tea is recommended. Oolong tea, also called wulong tea, is semi-fermented, falling between green and black tea. Its color is dark greenish-brown; after brewing, the leaf center appears green while the edges turn red, known as the “green leaf with red border” feature. It combines the fresh aroma of green tea with the rich flavor of black tea, neither too cold nor too hot, with moderate warmth. It moisturizes skin and throat, generates body fluids, clears internal heat, and helps the body adapt to seasonal changes. Famous oolong varieties include Fujian oolong, Guangdong oolong, and Taiwan oolong, especially Wuyi rock tea from northern Fujian and Anxi Tieguanyin from southern Fujian. Many oolong types are named after tea cultivars—such as Tieguanyin, Qilan, Meizhan, Shui Xian, Tao Ren, and Mao Xie. Oolong tea is traditionally drunk strong, emphasizing taste and aroma. Use boiling water at 100°C to brew, then pour the tea into cups shortly after steeping. The resulting beverage has intense fragrance and lingering aftertaste.
Winter: Drink Black Tea
In winter, the weather is freezing, all life lies dormant, cold pathogens invade, physiological functions slow down, yang energy declines. Traditional Chinese medicine holds: “In deep winter, all life energy is stored inward; thus, health preservation lies in warding off cold and keeping warm.” Therefore, black tea is considered the best choice for winter. Black tea is sweet and warm, nourishing the body’s yang energy. Rich in protein and sugar, it warms the abdomen, enhances resistance to cold, aids digestion, and removes greasiness. During processing, black tea undergoes full fermentation, oxidizing tannins—thus known as fully fermented tea. Oxidized polyphenols such as theaflavins, thearubigins, and theabrownins form, some of which dissolve in water to create the characteristic red tea infusion. Famous traditional工夫black teas include Huhong, Yihong, Ninghong, Minhong, Taohong, and Qihong, with Qihong from Qimen County, Anhui, being particularly renowned. Brew black tea with freshly boiled water and cover the cup to retain aroma. In Britain, people commonly enjoy “afternoon tea,” often blending Qihong with Indian black tea, adding milk and sugar. In some parts of China, people also drink black tea with sugar, milk, and sesame, which both warms the body and adds nutrition, strengthening the physique.