Er, what's that in my tea?
Recently I came across this tea at school. It's one of the teas available to drink in our teacher room.
I did a double take when I read the label.
Green tea with cassiae semen?
*cough*
SEMEN.
Ok. I’m really not sure how that got translated as semen originally, but 결명 (Kyong mul) is a “grain”.
Often grains such as barley, corn, and brown rice are added to green tea. . Usually they offer an extra health benefit.
According to Wikipedia, this one is a laxative, benefits your eyes, and so on. So if you’re constipated and have bad eyes, I guess this is the tea for you. As long as you don’t mind drinking semen.
According the first link, next to the picture, “cassiae semen” is interchangable with ripe cassiae seeds (you can also read about more specific heath benefits if you follow that link…).
The seeds are boiled and then roasted before being used in teas.
So how does it taste? Well, the roasted seeds add a nutty flavor to the otherwise standard green tea taste.
No pun intended.
One last thing, my co-teachers tell me that this tea is very good for women.
That would make this the second food in all of Korea that I've heard is good for women. Seaweed soup and semen tea ladies, that's where it's at. ^.^
Lily - (aka Lunalil at Funk Seoul Sister)
