Soup Name: Cooling Flower Tea (Chrysanthemums)

Traditional Chinese Name: 金銀菊花降暑茶 (Jīnyín júhuā jiàng shǔ chá)

Introduction:
An extremely cooling drink that is ideal in the hot summer, for cooling the body, clearing heatiness and detoxifying the body.  It is usually served cold (with ice or cooled in the fridge) and with rock sugar (or syrup sugar).  This is a very common Chinese drink and can be purchased either pre-bottled or on the street.  You can also find these ingredients prepackaged for homemade usage.

What Ingredients are required?

6-7 pieces of dried Chinese licorice
50g of dried Japanese Honeysuckle
50g of dried chrysanthemum flower
rock sugar (to taste)
2-3 L of water

How do I prepare it?

1. Boil water
2. Rinse ingredients in warm water briefly (except rock sugar)
3. When water boils, add all ingredients together
4. Boil for an hour on medium heat
5. Strain ingredients from liquid
6. Add rock sugar and let dissolve
7. Cool in fridge or with ice (optional)
8. Serve and enjoy!

Any benefits?

Excellent soup for relieving heatiness
Helps relieve symptoms of sunstroke and heatstroke
Excellent detoxifying drink for the body

Any precautions?

• People with sensitive stomachs (otherwise known as cold stomachs) should avoid overly cooling herbs
• Pregnant woman in their first trimester take caution as cooling ingredients can cause contractions
• After consumption, you may notice frequent urination (this is normal) as your body is also detoxifying