Five Black Tea 五黑茶 for the Greater Cold 大寒 Solar Term
As we approach “Greater Cold” (Da Han 大寒), the 24th and final solar term of the year, an arctic front and snow storm passed through the area that I live in, bringing the coldest temperatures that we’ve had this winter so far. It truly is “Greater Cold!” A good herbal tea for this time of year is called Wu Hei Cha 五黑茶, meaning “Five Black Tea.” This tea is also great in general for neigong practitioners.
Winter is associated with the kidney organ system, the water phase, and the color black. The kidneys are our storehouse of the all-important jing 精 (essence), which fuels our neigong practice and is important for our health and longevity. It’s a good time to strengthen the kidneys so that they come into the new year strong. This tea is also a popular drink for hair health (helping to keep hair from falling out and turning grey) as well as a common remedy for someone who has been staying up too late as it tonifies yin.
As the name suggests, Wu Hei Cha consists of five black ingredients. There are some variations, but the following is common and fairly accessible:
- Black beans** (hei dou 黑豆)
- Black sesame* (hei zhi ma 黑芝麻)
- Black goji berries (hei gouqi 黑枸杞)
- Mulberry (sangshen 桑葚)
- Black rice* (hei mi 黑米)
* The beans, sesame seeds, and rice should all be toasted. It’s usually possible to purchase black sesame seeds that are already roasted. For the beans and rice you would fry them in a pan (the beans with a pinch of salt). Fry them until there is a toasty, popcorn-like smell and some of the kernels begin to crack open (see photo), but not until they are burnt/charred. It’s easiest to do a whole batch and put it in a jar, and then the ingredients are ready for making tea when needed.
* The appropriate black beans are black soybeans that you’d probably get from an asian market or an asian brand (not the type of black beans that you’d eat in a burrito!). The black rice is also asian rice.
Medicinal Properties of the Ingredients
Black beans: Enter the spleen and kidneys, tonify the kidneys, nourishes jing and blood, clears heat, relieves toxicity, nourishes the skin
Black sesame: Enters the liver, kidney, and large intestine meridians, nourishes liver and kidney yin, nourishes jing and blood, moistens and lubricates the intestines and lungs
Black goji: Enters the kidney, liver, and lung meridians, nourishes and tonifies liver and kidney blood and yin, benefits jing, improves eyesight, nourishes yin and moistens the lungs
Mulberry: Enters the kidney, liver, and heart meridians, tonifies blood and enriches yin, lubricates the intestines and generates fluids
Black rice: Enters the spleen and stomach meridians, strengthens the spleen, tonifies the kidneys, nourishes blood, and relieves dryness.
Around the Greater Cold solar term, the coldest time of year, it is also common to add red jujube date (hong zao 红枣) for some additional warming properties.
Preparation
To make the tea, assuming the beans, rice, and sesame seeds are already roasted, all the ingredients except the goji berries are combined in a kettle (or pot) along with water, the water is boiled and then reduced to simmer for 10-15 minutes. Turn off the heat and add the goji berries and let them steep for another 5 minutes.
Example of the black beans:
