# Jiaogulan Tea

> Jiaogulan, the five-leaf sweet tea vine of southern China, steeps into a pale jade cup that opens bitter and finishes surprisingly sweet: an afternoon tea in place of the second coffee.

Price: 17.50 USD · in stock

## About
Mid-afternoon, the light going long across the table, and a pale jade cup in place of the second coffee. Jiaogulan opens bitter and finishes surprisingly sweet, which is why Japan calls it amachazuru, the sweet tea vine.Gynostemma pentaphyllum climbs fences and forest edges across southern China and parts of Southeast Asia, a slim vine with five-fingered leaves like a small grape leaf. In Guizhou province it is known as xiancao, roughly the immortality herb, after stories of long-lived villagers who drank it daily in place of ordinary tea: a folk story, not a promise, but one that has followed the plant ever since. In herbal tradition it is taken as a daily tonic, much like green tea.This leaf is grown at altitude in mineral-rich mountain soil, hand-cut at the height of the growing season and shade-dried to hold its deep green-to-olive color. Growers favor this five-leaf cultivar over the coarser seven-leaf one for its milder, rounder flavor.How to useSteep a heaped teaspoon in hot water for five to seven minutes, longer than green tea and shorter than a decoction. It softens with a little honey, though it is pleasant plain.A vine that asks only for hot water and a little patience.