Black Sesame and Goji Berry Tea
A rich, mineral-dense tea for the mornings you wake up anxious and the evenings you cannot wind down.
Season Year-round
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole black sesame seeds
- 2 tablespoons goji berries, rinsed
- 3 cups water
- Raw unprocessed brown sugar, or maple syrup, to taste
Method
Bring the sesame seeds, goji berries and water to a boil, then reduce to a simmer, partially covered, for twenty to thirty minutes, until about a cup of tea remains. If it has not cooked down in thirty minutes your flame is too low. Strain and sweeten to taste.
I drink this in the morning if I wake up anxious, and in the evening if I cannot wind down. It is calming without being sedating, and it is rich enough to feel like it has done something.
Both ingredients are staples of Chinese dietary therapy rather than novelties. Black sesame — hēi zhī má 黑芝麻 — is sweet and neutral, enters the Liver and Kidney, and nourishes blood, yin and essence; it is a traditional food for premature graying, for dryness, and for depletion after illness, and it moistens the intestines. Goji berries — gǒu qǐ zǐ 枸杞子 — do similar work and are the single most-used food in Chinese medicine for the eyes. Together the effect is deeply moistening, which is precisely what you want if you are dry, depleted, and running on nerves.
The seeds are also genuinely mineral-rich. Whole unhulled black sesame carries around 88 mg of calcium per tablespoon — the calcium sits in the hull, so hulled white sesame will not do the same job. Buy whole.
You can leave the sugar out if you are avoiding it, though the seeds are bitter on their own. Maple syrup and honey both work; I prefer maple syrup or raw brown sugar for the minerals they bring with them.
Black sesame, goji berries and Chinese red dates are all available at any Chinese grocer, and from Kamwo Meridian Herbs on Grand Street.
