In china one of the most popular herbal tea is 王老吉 wang lao ji or wong lo kat in Cantonese. Wang lao ji is said to be a product that was commercialized and sold by Wang Zebang (王泽邦) (nicknamed Wang Ji 王吉) from Heshan in Guangdong province (广东鹤山) in 1828.
Currently sold as a herbal beverage, with the ingredients being, seven different kinds of chinese herbal plants: “Water, white sugar, mesona, dan hua, Bu Zha ye (Microcos paniculata Linn), Chrysanthemum flowers, jin yin hua (Lonicera japonica Thunb.), Prunella vulgaris, and licorice. (The “Dan hua” does not refer to as eggs, but refers to the Apocynaceae species).
This will be a part one of a seven part series exploring the contents of Wang Lao Ji seven herbal tea drink on FB Liangcha-HerbalTea.com. Today we will talk about 仙草 (xiāncǎo).
Xiancao or mesona is a genus of the mint family (Lamiaceae). Mesona grows up to 100cm with leaves from 2-10cm long and 1-3cm wide. In medicine the entire plant above the ground is dried and used.
Medicinal Properties: Diuretic
It has been known to be effective for diabetes, high blood pressure, common cold, and arthritis. However, more medical proof is still required to validate these.
Common Uses:
Mesona is used commonly as a dessert and is served as a hot, viscous drink, or set to cool as a gel and served as a black jelly.
The Hakka have a custom of eating mesona jelly on the first day of the peak of summer. They say that eating mesona jelly on this day that they will not get heat rash. If you enjoyed this part please visit FB Liangcha-Herbal Tea for the rest of the explaination as to what Wang Lao Ji is made from.
A Japanese translator and independent film maker as well as second generation expert in pottery and Japanese tea ceremony tea bowls. A self published author Traditional Japanese Dances of Himeshima (2004) and writes on a broad range of topics including herbal tea on liangcha-herbaltea.com and linguistics on The Iroha Project.