How to Make Your Chinese Tea

If you have been prescribed the dry herbal mixture, you will need to take one pack of herbs a day, the contents of which must be boiled to produce two cups of herbal tea. These should be taken warm and not on an empty stomach; after breakfast in the morning, and in the evening before going to bed, often prove to be most convenient times. While they aren’t the tastiest of drinks most of our patients find they soon get used to them!

Making the tea – Method 1

Empty one pack of herbs into a medium size Arcoflam, Le Creuset cast iron, casserole, ceramic, or Pyrex saucepan. Do not use an aluminium or metal container.
Add sufficient cold tap water to cover the herbs, plus an additional 3 – 5cms. Leave to soak for 30 minutes or overnight.
To make your first cup of tea, bring the tea to the boil, boil for a few minutes; reduce the heat to simmer for a further 30- 40 minutes until it is concentrated. Drain the herbs and drink the remaining 150 – 200mls of liquid. Keep the herbs for preparing the second cup of tea.
To make your second cup, repeat stages 2 and 3. Discard the herbs.

NB: If you’re not working, the best time to drink the herbs is mid morning and mid afternoon.

Making the tea – Method 2

This method involves cooking your herbs in a Slow Cooker/Health Cooker with an inner ceramic pot. These can be purchased from many department stores as well as from Argos. (Recommended size: 2 - 2.5 litres.)

There are several advantages to using this method:

Minimum preparation is required as there is no need to soak the herbs, giving you maximum free time away from the kitchen.
Since the herbs will be simmering gently, over a long period of time, you reap their full nutritional value.
There’s little or no smell in your house whilst the herbs are cooking.

(1) Before going to bed, empty a pack of herbs into the cooker.

(2) Add 4 mugs of boiling water (approximately 1 1/2 pints).

(3) Most Slow Cookers/Health Cookers come with two control switches (low and high).

Turn the control to high until they boil, then turn to low; the tea will be ready when you get up in the morning. Make sure you switch it off as soon as you wake up to ensure that it’s not overdone. Drain the herbs and drink half of the liquid for your first cup of tea (approx. 150mls of liquid). Keep the remaining liquid for the second cup of tea (warm up before drinking). If possible, avoid using a microwave or slow cookers to warm your tea.

We recommend that you experiment with this method over a weekend to familiarise yourself with using the Slow Cooker/Health Cooker and the amount of water required for your individual pack of herbs.