Cherry Grain Balsam Pear Tea comes in a box showing the Yangtze Basin beautiful tapestry of green and yellow fields and blue skies in China's Jiangsu Province.
The tea inside is no less spectacular. Described as clear and elegant, in flavor, it contains no tea (camellia sinensis) but dried slices of a bitter gourd that is known by a dozen names such as towel gourd, tiansigua, tianluo, and xugua.
The light, relaxing, pleasant-tasting beverage contains no caffeine. People who complain about tea's muddy taste often love this beverage served hot or cold. For a stronger tea, steep 3 or 4 pieces of dried Balsam Pear Tea in a cup of boiling water for about five minutes. The slightly bitter flavor makes it a popular daily remedy throughout Asia and the Caribbean for cooling and cleansing the body from fever, thirst, agitation, diabetes, cough, and phlegm congestion anywhere--nose, throat, and vaginal discharge.
Balsam Pear Tea especially acts on the liver and stomach meridians to cool and cleanse the blood. That means its ingredients, including saponins, vitamins B and C, reduce impurities that could lead to bloody nose, flooding menstrual periods or fresh blood in the stools.
