I have reviewed numerous teas from Cha Wu, a company based in China and imports a lot of awesome teas from Amazon to the United States and you can purchase in various grades.
For this review’s tea from Cha Wu, I am reviewing their Gynostemma Tea. While called Gynostemma Tea, it’s best known as Juaogulan tea which uses leaves that are derives from dioecious, herbaceous climbing vine (same family as the cucumber and gourd) and is widely used in South and East Asia and also New Guinea.
Yes, it’s also been called the poor man’s ginseng and was first documented in a sketch book in 1406 CE by Zhu Xiao as it was seen as a survival food rather than a medicinal herb. Until 1578, when it was identified by herbalist Li Shizen as a medicinal herb used for ailments such as hematuria, edema, tumors and trauma.
These days, its used primarily for herbal tea and not used for medicine. In fact, the European Union considers juaogulan as a “novel food”. While many websites, you will read its good for those who have high cholesterol, high blood pressure and improving heart function.
But there is no proof of juaogulan being effective, but some believe in it.
The tea has a slight bitter sweet flavor and does taste similar to green tea and is also caffeine-free.
For the most part, it’s a tea that I like when hot and you get a good amount of loose leaf tea and like other Cha Wu teas, it comes in a bag but has a plastic sealer, so you can clip and close the bag.
Overall, its a good, more average tea, as I’ve tried even better from Cha Wu, but for those who believe in the tea’s benefits will like it, especially that you get a lot for under $13.
Cha Wu Gynostemma Loose Leaf Tea is worth checking out!
