Post #4395846

Today’s tea is dandelion leaves, grown and harvested in China, sold by D.M.D. Bridge Brand. It is possible to brew the flower, but this is only the leaves. And once again, this is not actually tea because all tea comes from the tea plant. Rather, it is a tisane. Which means these are leaves you can infuse with hot water. Not many people know this, but yes, you can drink dandelion. All those “weeds” you see sprouting in your yard? You can pluck the leaves, dry them out, and make a hot beverage out of them. Nevertheless, when you look at the leaves in their dry form, they have some similarity to tea in how they wither and curl. The scent, however, is drastically different. As it should be since this is from a flower. Compared to tea, this is extra pungent. Dry In terms of taste, dandelion is quite complex. It starts off as earthy, grassy and vegetal. Then when it hits mid-tongue, it gets bitter but not astringent—it’s more of a clean bitterness. But after you swallow, there’s a lingering sweetness. Like tea, dandelion is used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). It is said to aid digestion, act as an anti-inflammatory, and regulate blood sugar. I’m not a doctor, this is just its purported benefits. It should also be mentioned that dandelion has no caffeine. In fact, there are no psychoactive compounds in it. There is Taraxasterol, which seems to validate TCM’s belief that dandelion helps liver function. I’ll be brewing this in my Kamjove teapot. I’ll be 5g of leaves, heating water at a rolling boil, and steeped for a solid 10 minutes. I like tea, I don’t have to worry about overextraction of tannins with dandelions since there isn’t any.