Sometimes I formulate my morning tea blend the night before, placing my tea-set on my desk so I’m ready to sip and write first thing. Other days, I blend in the predawn darkness as water boils, fingers caressing rough pu’erh 普爾, soft chrysanthemum, fragrant tulsi.
Plants walk with us through the seasons. We turn to them for food, medicine, clothing, shelter, solace, inspiration, and more. We develop closer relationships with certain plants over time, our herbal allies, our botanical best friends. We might have several botanical acquaintances, but only a handful of besties. Tea is one of my best friends.
Which plants walk with you through the seasons?
Which plants shine in each season-- for your unique body and needs?
Who are your botanical best friends?
Tea, Camellia sinensis, is a slightly bitter cooling digestive and stimulant. It gets energetically warmer or cooler, depending on how it’s prepared. Caffeine levels vary from lightly caffeinated white and green teas to more strongly caffeinated black teas, and fermented teas like oolong and pu’erh. A longer steep will bring out more bitterness, caffeine, and other properties.
Like any other food, you can mix tea into other blends. Blend other herbs with tea to complement flavors and amplify or direct herbal actions towards certain body systems. Simple yet refined, just one herbal addition lets you really feel how the flavor combo waltzes through your senses, your body, this season, this moment. You will better understand the herbs as individuals, and how they partner as lovers. Start with herbal pairs. Build up to trios. Keep building, from there!
Here are some ways to modify your tea through the seasons.
Spring
At the beginning of spring, nourish and ground with light sour-sweetness: goji, rose hips, hawthorn berries. Help qi flow smoothly with sour-sweet dried citrus peels or fresh pine needles.
Later in spring, moderate for shifting temperatures and emotions with slightly cooler mint family nervines like peppermint, spearmint, or tulsi. Transition from the darker fermented teas of winter into brighter lighter yang season teas like white or green tea.
A Simple Spring Blend: Oolong (early spring) or white tea (later spring) & citrus peel
A Playful Spring Blend: Green tea, tulsi, and a dash of fresh maple syrup or honey (depending on what your locale offers in season)
Summer
Simmer down, darling. Keep your cool with cooler herbs that “release the exterior” like mint family plants, yes, but also light aromatic nervous system supportive florals like chrysanthemum (ju hua 菊花), chamomile, and calendula. Throw in rose petals, and you have a nice party. Yang weather, yang body, yang mind. Hot-hot-hot. Cool down with lighter green or white teas.
A Simple Summer Blend: Green tea, chrysanthemum, and goji
A Playful Summer Blend: Put roses in everything. White tea and rose petals. Green tea and rose petals. Smear the leftover plant material (marc) on your face after steeping. Get messy. Get playful. Get wild!
Autumn
As the weather cools, start warming and nourishing. Follow the season’s lead. Don’t get too hot and heavy too quickly. Bide your time, and savor the transition. Root down with warming ginger, sweet licorice, and adaptogenic astragalus or codonopsis. Drink darker teas such as black or fermented teas. Nourish resilience with oatstraw, tulsi, and your favorite adaptogens.
A Simple Autumn Blend: Genmaicha and oatstraw, perhaps with a touch of mint to liven things up
A Playful Autumn Blend: Black tea, lapsang souchong, astragalus or codonopsis, ginger, and goji
Winter
Ah. Silent, cold, still. Warm up your palate with a darker, more fermented, moody brew such as oolong and pu’erh. Warm your roots with ginger, cacao, and cinnamon. Add a small kick of cayenne and some sunny florals! Nourish your deep reserves with thicker sweet nourishing medicinals such as longan fruit (long yan rou 龍眼肉), jujube dates (da zao 大棗), dates-- even stevia or raisins.
A Simple Winter Blend: Pu’erh 普洱 and ginger
A Playful Winter Blend: Oolong, cacao, cinnamon, and rose
Dosage
Pinching approximate quantities of herbs for my morning blends, I learned over time what a “big pinch” or “little pinch” looks like in different teapots. Quantities shift day by day, and season by season. Of course, I measure specific dosages for patients’ formulas, but not for my morning teas— these blends are just for me. Pinching
morning tea day by day, I learn the character of my pots and cups, different flavors and textures of different waters, and how my body responds to my changing preparations. I learn more about my body, her nuances. I learn to listen to what the plants want, and how they wish to be combined. We engage in an ongoing evolving conversation.
For a cup, I approximate two large pinches of tea, and one small pinch of 1 - 2 supporting herbs. If mixing different Camellia preparations, then I combine smaller pinches.
Steep 1 tablespoon of tea for up to a minute in a cup of hot freshly boiled water. Dosage depends on steeping method, and is affected by the particularities of type of pot, water quality, water temperature, mindset, and other shifty unpredictabilities. I prefer to use larger quantities of tea and steep for shorter periods of time in a gaiwan 蓋碗, or covered bowl, gradually increasing the steeping time as the leaf expands, and flavors unfurl. Experiment with different brewing methods and steeping times. Find what methods work for you!
Fun
My personal herbal collection smiles at me from labeled glass jars on long wooden shelves. Sometimes they’re in alphabetical order, more often they’re informally rearranged by herbal action and frequency of use, with seasonal herbs jostled forward, winking.
I love touching, smelling, and intuiting my way through my herbal larder each morning and night. This blending process takes just a few minutes, but feeds the flowing substrata of my subconscious. So many ways to relate and grow with our botanical kin-- what are yours? Which recipes resonate with you? How will you experiment and modify?
Have fun!
You may also enjoy:
Topics: Recipes, Herbalism, Specialty Ingredients, Tea & Herbal Drinks
Jiling Lin is a Licensed Acupuncturist (LAc), herbalist, and artist. Her integrative medical practice in Ventura, CA and holistic workshops, retreats, and writings empower thriving health and environmental stewardship in our bodies, communities, and world. Interweaving nature, art, movement and ritual, Jiling’s classes range from seasonal wellness to immersive Five Elements retreats. “Tea Talks” podcast host on Herbal Radio and writer for various publications, Jiling is also an avid traveler, multidisciplinary artist, and wilderness adventurer. Find Jiling backpacking the Sespe, surfing at C-Street, and on JilingLin.com, Substack @Jiling, Instagram @LinJiling, and Facebook @JilingLAc. Join her newsletter and Substack for adventure-notes, book updates, and seasonal beauty!
Sometimes I formulate my morning tea blend the night before, placing my tea-set on my desk so I’m ready to sip and write first thing. Other days, I blend in the predawn darkness as water boils, fingers caressing rough pu’erh 普爾, soft chrysanthemum, fragrant tulsi.
Plants walk with us through the seasons. We turn to them for food, medicine, clothing, shelter, solace, inspiration, and more. We develop closer relationships with certain plants over time, our herbal allies, our botanical best friends. We might have several botanical acquaintances, but only a handful of besties. Tea is one of my best friends.
Which plants walk with you through the seasons?
Which plants shine in each season-- for your unique body and needs?
Who are your botanical best friends?
Tea, Camellia sinensis, is a slightly bitter cooling digestive and stimulant. It gets energetically warmer or cooler, depending on how it’s prepared. Caffeine levels vary from lightly caffeinated white and green teas to more strongly caffeinated black teas, and fermented teas like oolong and pu’erh. A longer steep will bring out more bitterness, caffeine, and other properties.
Like any other food, you can mix tea into other blends. Blend other herbs with tea to complement flavors and amplify or direct herbal actions towards certain body systems. Simple yet refined, just one herbal addition lets you really feel how the flavor combo waltzes through your senses, your body, this season, this moment. You will better understand the herbs as individuals, and how they partner as lovers. Start with herbal pairs. Build up to trios. Keep building, from there!
Here are some ways to modify your tea through the seasons.
Spring
At the beginning of spring, nourish and ground with light sour-sweetness: goji, rose hips, hawthorn berries. Help qi flow smoothly with sour-sweet dried citrus peels or fresh pine needles.
Later in spring, moderate for shifting temperatures and emotions with slightly cooler mint family nervines like peppermint, spearmint, or tulsi. Transition from the darker fermented teas of winter into brighter lighter yang season teas like white or green tea.
A Simple Spring Blend: Oolong (early spring) or white tea (later spring) & citrus peel
A Playful Spring Blend: Green tea, tulsi, and a dash of fresh maple syrup or honey (depending on what your locale offers in season)
Summer
Simmer down, darling. Keep your cool with cooler herbs that “release the exterior” like mint family plants, yes, but also light aromatic nervous system supportive florals like chrysanthemum (ju hua 菊花), chamomile, and calendula. Throw in rose petals, and you have a nice party. Yang weather, yang body, yang mind. Hot-hot-hot. Cool down with lighter green or white teas.
A Simple Summer Blend: Green tea, chrysanthemum, and goji
A Playful Summer Blend: Put roses in everything. White tea and rose petals. Green tea and rose petals. Smear the leftover plant material (marc) on your face after steeping. Get messy. Get playful. Get wild!
Autumn
As the weather cools, start warming and nourishing. Follow the season’s lead. Don’t get too hot and heavy too quickly. Bide your time, and savor the transition. Root down with warming ginger, sweet licorice, and adaptogenic astragalus or codonopsis. Drink darker teas such as black or fermented teas. Nourish resilience with oatstraw, tulsi, and your favorite adaptogens.
A Simple Autumn Blend: Genmaicha and oatstraw, perhaps with a touch of mint to liven things up
A Playful Autumn Blend: Black tea, lapsang souchong, astragalus or codonopsis, ginger, and goji
Winter
Ah. Silent, cold, still. Warm up your palate with a darker, more fermented, moody brew such as oolong and pu’erh. Warm your roots with ginger, cacao, and cinnamon. Add a small kick of cayenne and some sunny florals! Nourish your deep reserves with thicker sweet nourishing medicinals such as longan fruit (long yan rou 龍眼肉), jujube dates (da zao 大棗), dates-- even stevia or raisins.
A Simple Winter Blend: Pu’erh 普洱 and ginger
A Playful Winter Blend: Oolong, cacao, cinnamon, and rose
Dosage
Pinching approximate quantities of herbs for my morning blends, I learned over time what a “big pinch” or “little pinch” looks like in different teapots. Quantities shift day by day, and season by season. Of course, I measure specific dosages for patients’ formulas, but not for my morning teas— these blends are just for me. Pinching
morning tea day by day, I learn the character of my pots and cups, different flavors and textures of different waters, and how my body responds to my changing preparations. I learn more about my body, her nuances. I learn to listen to what the plants want, and how they wish to be combined. We engage in an ongoing evolving conversation.
For a cup, I approximate two large pinches of tea, and one small pinch of 1 - 2 supporting herbs. If mixing different Camellia preparations, then I combine smaller pinches.
Steep 1 tablespoon of tea for up to a minute in a cup of hot freshly boiled water. Dosage depends on steeping method, and is affected by the particularities of type of pot, water quality, water temperature, mindset, and other shifty unpredictabilities. I prefer to use larger quantities of tea and steep for shorter periods of time in a gaiwan 蓋碗, or covered bowl, gradually increasing the steeping time as the leaf expands, and flavors unfurl. Experiment with different brewing methods and steeping times. Find what methods work for you!
Fun
My personal herbal collection smiles at me from labeled glass jars on long wooden shelves. Sometimes they’re in alphabetical order, more often they’re informally rearranged by herbal action and frequency of use, with seasonal herbs jostled forward, winking.
I love touching, smelling, and intuiting my way through my herbal larder each morning and night. This blending process takes just a few minutes, but feeds the flowing substrata of my subconscious. So many ways to relate and grow with our botanical kin-- what are yours? Which recipes resonate with you? How will you experiment and modify?
Have fun!
You may also enjoy:
Topics: Recipes, Herbalism, Specialty Ingredients, Tea & Herbal Drinks
Jiling Lin is a Licensed Acupuncturist (LAc), herbalist, and artist. Her integrative medical practice in Ventura, CA and holistic workshops, retreats, and writings empower thriving health and environmental stewardship in our bodies, communities, and world. Interweaving nature, art, movement and ritual, Jiling’s classes range from seasonal wellness to immersive Five Elements retreats. “Tea Talks” podcast host on Herbal Radio and writer for various publications, Jiling is also an avid traveler, multidisciplinary artist, and wilderness adventurer. Find Jiling backpacking the Sespe, surfing at C-Street, and on JilingLin.com, Substack @Jiling, Instagram @LinJiling, and Facebook @JilingLAc. Join her newsletter and Substack for adventure-notes, book updates, and seasonal beauty!
