daidokorocha wrote:jayinhk wrote:daidokorocha wrote:I had a long session with jiaogulan yesterday. This is also known as gynostemma. Anyhow, people say to either infuse it or make a decoction with it and I went with infusion. Also, people say boiling water... but I went with 175 and below. I started off with a really quick steeping time and increased it as non-regular increments. The stuff I got didn't come loose but rather is in a ball of 10 grams. This is one of the main reasons I didn't do boiling water because my pot is small and people recommend 1 gram per 8 oz. The other reason is I generally like to be more delicate to my teas while brewing. I know this isn't a tea but...
At any rate, the flavor was good. It started off with a really light, lasting sweetness that reminded me somewhat of ama-cha, or hydrangea leaf that. The flavor continued to evolve with the sweetness being ever-present in differing strengths. After a few infusions it started to remind me of Lu Shan Yun Wu, or Cloud and Fog/Mist green. My fiancee claimed it tasted bready, leaning toward the Portuguese castela. Soon, I came to get a fleeting sense of mintiness. I have heard that it gives off a minty taste, and I imagine if I did higher temperatures and longer steeps this might come out immediately. This mintiness gave us both a cool, tingling sensation near the back of the palate and a cool sensation in the chest. I continued drinking this for quite some time and even put it away and came back to it later with 200 degree water. It was still pleasant, but I think it may have been on its last legs without lengthier steeps.
Very lovely pale sea green color throughout the whole session. Will definitely do again.
Gongfu style prep might work too (flash infusions with boiling water). Jiaogulan is incredible for you. I have a very good grade of loose jiaogulan kicking around, but haven't had any in over a year! One of my friends says it helped him lower his blood sugar from diabetic to pre-diabetic levels.
It is more or less what I was doing minus the boiling water. I am planning on doing the same set up but with closer to boiling water and seeing how that goes. I have heard that it is great for one's cholesterol, blood pressure, etc. How often/how much did your friend drink in order to see those results?
I don't know the specifics, but I'll ask him. He dropped a bunch of weight when he found out (he was around 240-250 lbs at 5'9 and really into lifting weights, but with a high bodyfat percentage). Looked like a different guy after all the weight loss. His wife is in med school and they had just had a child, so he was definitely motivated to get his health figured out!
I used it once a day--maybe five grams per session.
I use an Indian ayurvedic preparation that incorporates something similar to jiaogulan in it, so I have less incentive to consume jiaogulan now, but it has all kinds of benefits. I use a few different plants and plant extracts every day (gingko biloba, fenugreek seed, cinnamon, ashwagandha, echinacea) and IMO jiaogulan is definitely worth drinking for health benefits alone.