Journal
The herb library
Monographs on the plants we sell — what they are, where they grow, how they taste — and the kitchen notes that make them worth keeping in the cupboard. Written from the packing bench, not from a content calendar.
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Pumpkin Vine: The Vegetable Stalk and the Flower Nobody Wastes
NAN GUA TENG is the dried pumpkin vine, and it is used in Chinese medicine for damp-heat and…
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Dried Chickpeas: A Legume That Somehow Ended Up on a Tea Shelf
There is no medicinal tradition behind dried chickpeas in the way there is for most of this shelf.…
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Chinese Chive: The Allium Nobody Cooks the Way It Wants
Jiu cai is the strongest-flavoured green in the Chinese kitchen, and it is the one green that tastes…
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Japanese Bush Clover: A Small Legume for Damp and Heat
Ji Yan Cao is a common roadside legume that Chinese herbalism has used for damp-heat complaints for centuries.…
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Kuding: The Bitter Tea That Nobody Drinks for the Taste
Ku Ding Cha is served in Chinese restaurants as a free after-dinner drink, and it is one of…
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Vine Tea: The Grassy Tea with a Reputation for Weight Loss
Ampelopsis grossedentata is a wild grape relative used as a tea in Guangxi for centuries, and it has…
One email a month, sent the day we pack.
What came in, what is running low, and one way to actually use it. No discount codes shouting at you.