However, through talks and collaborative efforts between nations, the number of fire points (that causes haze) has since been reduced, and PSI in Singapore has returned to healthy levels. Particulate Matter (PM) 2.5 levels is also back to normal.
Nevertheless, there is still a need for one to maintain general health, cool the body, strengthen the body's immune system, and detoxification system.
Here is one of the ways that I took too during the haze period, that is, to drink cooling tea. This can be quite costly to buy outside, and also more troublesome. I find it easier to brew tea at home because I can make more, make it frequently, and store if there is excess.
Maintaining General Health - Homemade Cooling Tea [Haze Singapore Version]
In general, I drink chrysanthemum tea. There are many types of chrysanthemum tea, and here is one of them, in my Toast Box Coffee Filter Pot.
You can buy different blends of chrysanthemum tea that are premixed, or you can buy the ingredients separately and put them together yourself!
If you prefer premixed, here is one shop that I know sells premixes.
It is called Genya, they have a few outlets, and I found mine at Kovan Mall, outside Kovan MRT.
There were a number of premixes, each for a different health purpose. I chose three.
The first one I picked up was the Honey Suckle Chrysanthemum Premix Tea.
And here is a close of up of what is inside. It costs $6.80, for 6 bags per pack. I would say that it is honestly quite expensive. And this is the reason I went to other traditional Chinese medicinal halls after that, to pick up the ingredients individually.
I also picked up the Rose Flower Premix Tea.
This is my favourite one because I generally prefer the taste of rose flower tea as opposed to chrysanthemum tea. But this still contains chrysanthemum. This contains eight treasures, so it costs more, at $8.20 for 6 bags per pack.
By experience, 1 bag can make two cups of tea, with reasonably taste. So it costs about $1.40 per bag, and 70 cents per 250 ml cup of tea.
Here is the ingredients list.
The thing I like about traditional Chinese tea is that you don't see any funny ingredients that you can't read. No chemical added. Some may doubt this because these are not organic, so the flowers and fruits may still be contaminated. But considering the world today, one can't really trust even companies that claim to be organic.
The last one I got was the Dried Pear/Ginger Premix Tea.
This is really quite special. The ginger and pear taste is strong.
This is another expensive one.
I actually bought this tea for its wind-expelling properties, because I tend to get a lot of wind build-up in my stomach. I am always quite bloated, and have to be careful of what I eat.
But to my surprise, this can relieve the effects of alcohol too! I don't know how effective it is, because I didn't try. But if you are interested, you could get one yourself.
Effectiveness of Teas
So far, I really love these premixes because they not only work, they are also easy to use. I particularly like the Eight Treasure Rose Flower Premix.
In case some of you are wondering, these are completely not bitter at all! I drink all of these teas without the rock sugar, and they are sweet and tasty.
This because the premixes normally contain goji berries or sugar-coated dried fruits, and those ingredients will give the tea the mild sweetness. There is no need to add more sugar, unless you really, really just prefer sweet drinks.
Expiry Dates
The expiry dates for these are around late 2014, so they generally can last 1.5 years. The premixes are really good to just keep around the house, for days on which you suddenly feel like you need something cooling, detoxifying, and boosting.
Methods to Brew
There a number of ways to brew these teas.
I basically use my coffee pots.
The first one I have is a Bodum 1L French Press. I like such presses because it really sifts out unwanted solids from the tea.
Some of the tea ingredients are edible after boiling, and I do scoop those out (like longan, dates, pear, goji berries, etc) with a spoon after pouring out the tea.
This is what it looks like from the top after pouring in boiling water.
Use just-boiled, but PARTIALLY-COOLED water. You must wait till the boiling water has no more steam coming out of it (open the kettle cover), before pouring over the flowers. If not, the ingredients will get scalded, and your tea will taste not as nice as it is supposed to be. This, essentially, is the ultimate secret of good teas/coffee.
(If you're using this for coffee, scalding the coffee powder will result in over-boiled and bitter coffee.)
You MUST STIR before pressing the French Press down, to spread the taste evenly throughout all 1L of water, and also to spread the sugar. If not, the sugar from those sugar-coated fruits will make the bottom section of the tea too sweet.
Side view.
After stirring well, press down the French Press, and pour out the tea! Yum Yum!
The other method, of course, is to use some kind of filter. If I want to make lesser tea (480 ml, not 1L), I will use my Toast Box Coffee Filter Pot. Same thing, I pour partially-cooled water into the pot, stir, then let it sit for 5 minutes, and filter the tea out.
I like both of these teapot method because they allow me to scoop the edible ingredients out after filtering the tea through.
There is another method that I use, which is the most convenient for drinking and washing, but the least convenient for eating the edible parts.
That is, to use a filter bag. You can buy filter bags from Daiso, at $2 for a 100. Only 2 cents each!
Basically, put the entire bag of premix into this bag, seal the bag according to instructions, throw it in your favourite tea cup/mug, pour partially-cooled water, wait 5 minutes, stir well, and drink!
After finishing the tea, you simply throw the whole bag into the bin, and rinse down your cup.
I will have a dedicated post to these filter bag later on. So if you'd like to know more, stay tuned to Positively Nice!
The Cheaper Alternative
If you prefer to buy more cheaply in bulk, you can always go to places like Fu Hua Medicinal Hall (they are all over Singapore), or those mini medicinal halls. They should have rose flower, chrysanthemum flower, rock sugar, honey sugar, dried red dates, dried apricots, dried pears, dried ginger, big bags of goji berries, etc, for you to buy.
For a simple cooling tea, you only need two chrysanthemum flowers, and a pinch of goji berries.
If you want to have more blended teas, add in two rose flowers, and a big piece of ginger. Ginger is a good addition for people who feel cold, and catch flu easily. It will prevent you from getting too cooled by the chrysanthemum.
Drink once or twice daily for sustainable effect.
That is all for my How To Make Homemade Cooling Tea for Maintaining General Health.
Do you drink such Chinese teas? If you had experienced the mid-June haze, did you take to such things to alleviate the discomfort? Did it work for you?
Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored or compensated post. I bought everything that you see on my own.
Also, I am not a medical professional. Whatever I post here is what I read from all over the place, heard from sales people at the medicinal halls, etc, and my personal tea-drinking experience. If you have known medical conditions, please consult your doctor on whether you should drink cooling teas, and take certain ingredients.
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