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    Home » Drinks

    Published: Dec 21, 2024 by Zen · This post may contain affiliate links.

    Homemade Goji Berry Tea Drink (Wolfberry Tea)

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    A delicate and nourishing drink, goji berry tea or wolfberry tea is easy to make and good for your eyesight. You can have it alone, or add other ingredients to make Ginger Goji Berry tea or Red Date Goji Berry Tea (I show you how to make these teas below.)

    A cup of nourishing Goji Berry water.
    Jump to:
    • Ingredients
    • How to Serve
    • Other Wolfberry Recipes
    • Other Herbal Teas (No Caffeine)
    • How to make Goji Berry tea drink (Wolfberry tea)
    • What are Goji Berries?
    • Taste
    • Health Benefits
    • Where to Buy
    • How to Grow
    • How to Use
    • 💬 Comments

    This is a really easy Chinese tea recipe (no caffeine), so I'll spare you all the waffle and lead you straight to the ingredients and recipe.

    However, if you want to find out more about what are Goji Berries, and their Benefits, scroll down to under the Recipe card please!

    Ingredients

    You only need 2 things to make pure goji berry tea:

    • goji berries (wolfberries)
    • hot water

    However, it is very common to also include the following ingredients in the tea, as Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) views them as complementary. In addition, they add more complexity to the drink, as Goji Berries primarily add sweetness:

    • fresh ginger slices
      • I won't bore you with another Goji Berry ginger tea recipe, as it's honestly super easy to make; just add a few slices of fresh ginger to the tablespoon of goji berries (I prefer 2 actually), pour boiling water over, allow to steep, and you have your cup of goji tea. The more ginger you add, the more "spicy" or warming the drink will be.
    • red dates or jujubes (seed removed)
      • These also add sweetness to the drink, so don't add too many if you don't have a sweet tooth. They're also thought to be "heaty" (warming for the body) so consuming too many is not good for you (Chinese people believe too much heaty food can lead to a sore throat and/or zits.)
    • Goji berries are naturally sweet, but if you have a sweet tooth, you can add some honey, brown sugar, rock sugar, osmanthus sugar or jujube syrup.
      • For traditional Chinese flavor, add rock sugar. Honey is nutritious but adding honey to hot water can kill some of the benefits so I suggest using it only for cold or iced goji berry tea.

    How to Serve

    The tea can be drunk as a hot tea (drink right after steeping) or cold tea (chill a large pitcher of this flavorful tea in the fridge to make iced tea.)

    Don't forget to include a few berries in each glass, as the taste of the goji berry water itself is very light- the flavour comes when you bite on a berry. You can also add a few toasted pine nuts for texture.

    Other Wolfberry Recipes

    • Close-up of a bowl of chicken porridge with a huge abalone on top.
      Easy Chinese Canned Abalone Porridge
    • A bowl of Chinese black chicken soup with red dates, goji berries, scallops and dried shiitake mushrooms.
      Easy Chinese Black Chicken Soup
    • 3 osmanthus jellies with wolf berries on a white plate.
      Osmanthus Jelly Recipe (Gui Hua Gao)
    • Someone holding a cup of longan jujube tea with other TCM ingredients in the background.
      Longan Tea with Red Dates

    Other Herbal Teas (No Caffeine)

    • A glass of cold roasted barley tea.
      Korean Barley Tea (Boricha/ Mugicha)
    • Overheat shot of a cup of Chinese Sour Plum Drink next to hawthorns and flowers.
      Chinese Sour Plum Drink (Suanmeitang)
    • A top view of a glass of Asian plum tea
      Korean Plum Tea (Green Maesil Cha)
    • Someone holding a cup of longan jujube tea with other TCM ingredients in the background.
      Longan Tea with Red Dates

    Enjoyed this easy Chinese Goji Berry Tea Recipe? Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟rating in the recipe card below! If you REALLY liked this herbal tea, please consider supporting it by buying me a bag of goji berries! 🙂 (No obligation though!) Thank you and have a great day!

    A cup of wolfberry tea with dried goji berries next to it.

    How to make Goji Berry tea drink (Wolfberry tea)

    Zen
    A delicate and nourishing drink, goji berry tea or wolfberry tea is easy to make and good for your eyesight. You can have it alone, or add other ingredients to make Ginger Goji Berry tea or Red Date Goji Berry Tea.
    5 from 3 votes
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Prep Time 1 minute min
    Cook Time 20 minutes mins
    Course Appetizer, Drinks
    Cuisine Cantonese, Chinese, singaporean, Southeast Asian
    Servings 2

    Equipment

    • Pot or heat-proof bowl

    Ingredients
      

    • 6-8 tablespoons dried goji berries Rinse first (the traditional Chinese way to make tea is to pour boiling over, then throw the water away- the berries will then have been "washed").
    • 4 Cups Hot Water

    Optional ingredients

    • brown sugar, rock sugar, osmanthus sugar, jujube syrup or honey To sweeten, to taste
    • fresh ginger slices, ginseng, jujube red dates (seed removed as it is heaty) Complementary ingredients- these should be mixed with the goji berries from the start (i.e. steeped for the same amount of time)

    Instructions
     

    • Bring the water to the boil, then pour it over the goji berries.
    • Leave to steep for at least 20 minutes.
    • Optional: sweeten with brown sugar, rock sugar, osmanthus sugar, jujube syrup or honey. If using sugar, you will need to add this with the boiling water so the heat can dissolve it.
    • Scoop into cups, ensuring each cup has some fruits.

    Notes

    This makes exactly 2 mugs full (some water will be absorbed by the fruit the hydrate the berries.)
     

    Note: the nutritional information is an estimate automatically calculated using the WPRM recipe maker and I am not responsible for its veracity.

    Tried this Recipe? Tag me Today!Mention @GreedyGirlGourmet or tag #greedygirlgourmet!

    What are Goji Berries?

    Also known as wolf berries, goji berries (枸杞 gou qi in Chinese) are from the Lycium barbarum or Lycium chinensefamily. Usually sold in a red, dried form, you can also find black goji berries although those are much harder to get.

    This raisin-sized ingredient can be eaten or steeped in hot water to make a herbal infusion (gugija-cha 구기자차; gou qi zi cha 枸杞子茶.)) They're a common traditional chinese medicine (TCM) component so they're a big part of the chinese diet (used in herbal soups and what not.)

    If you like herbal tea blends, you may be interested to hear that, besides the berries, the leaves are also consumed by some, and there is a version of Goji Berry tea that uses only the leaves (Goji Berry Leaf Tea, gugiyeop-cha 구기엽차 or gou qi ye cha 枸杞葉茶).

    Taste

    I've heard people say they taste a bit like cranberry, a sour cherry or raisin- I'm not sure if that's what the flavour reminds me of, to be honest, as I find that it has a bit of a sweet taste, is sometimes a little tart, with a slight herbal aftertaste.

    Note: the dried berries taste better than the fresh ones, which are a bit bitter.

    Health Benefits

    Chinese people have long hailed the benefits of this red fruit- it's very common in the Asian postpartum diet- but there hasn't been a lot of scientific research done in this area. As such, I'm not going to list out all its superfood powers/ how it builds up your immune system, unless there has been research done to support it.

    One recent finding is a scientific study which has shown that goji berries are good for the eye health of the middle-aged (published by SCMP in February 2022 but which Chinese mammas and grandmamas have been telling us since we were young.)

    In addition, the Goji Berry fruit is a relatively healthy food as it is a good source of vitamin a, vitamin c and has antioxidant properties.

    Note: this is for information only and not meant as health, medical or nutrition advice. Moreover, people on certain medications (e.g. blood pressure or blood circulation medicine) may need to consult a professional medical practitioner before incorporating it in their diet.

    Where to Buy

    These wolfberries are usually sold dried.

    You can get them at Whole Foods, health shops, Asian supermarkets and Traditional Chinese Medicine shops.

    If not, an online store like Amazon also stocks this item. People even sell Goji Berry tea bags but honestly, as long as you can get your hands on the dried goji berries, it is SO easy to DIY.

    How to Grow

    You can plant the seeds (found in the dried goji berries) or grow it from cuttings. (The latter is a faster method.)

    Other easy-to-grow edible recipes can be found here.

    How to Use

    It is really easy to use goji berries in the kitchen- I've a collection of sweet and savory wolfberry recipes here.

    Close-up of a bowl of chicken porridge with a huge abalone on top.Chinese cuisine has many dishes which include goji berries

    Goji Berries are traditionally added to Chinese soups. Some savoury popular recipes which use these red berries are:

    • in goji berry chicken soup
    • in abalone porridge
    • cooked with spinach

    A cup of goji berries, ginger & longan tea with ingredients around it.Goji berries are a great addition to jujubes, longan & ginger tea!

    They're also found in drinks:

    • If you're a tea lover, they can be added to your usual delicious tea (such as chrysanthemum flowers tea, goji berry osmanthus tea, goji berry oolong or goji berry green tea)
    • in smoothies 
    • added to lemon juice (with a lemon slice or orange wedge on the side)
    • to make goji berry juice (personally undiluted goji berry juice is a bit too much for me)

    Close up of red goji berries and birds nest steamed in a coconutThe bright red colour of the wolf berries makes Chinese desserts more appetising.

    And desserts:

    • steamed with bird's nest & coconut
    • Chinese sweet treats such as this goji berry osmanthus dessert
    • granola & bakes e.g. goji berry oatmeal cookies (The goji berries are a bit sweet, so be mindful in how much you add!)
    • in jam
    • Some people also like to eat them like raisins, but my family never has: as they've been dried in the sun, we like to rinse them first to get rid of dust and what now.

    What's your favourite tea blend recipe? Let me know how Goji Berry tea measures up to it!

    I have other recipes you may like here! :)

    • A glass of Taiwanese papaya milk
      Papaya Milk (Taiwanese Drink)
    • A glass of cold jasmine bubble tea with tapioca pearls and an edible flower.
      Jasmine Milk Tea Boba Recipe (20 min)
    • A cup of iced guava black tea.
      9 Summer Starbucks Drinks
    • A jar of dark brown lemongrass simple syrup.
      Lemongrass Simple Syrup Recipe for Cocktail

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. N says

      December 14, 2023 at 6:53 pm

      What should we do with the rehydrated goji berries?
      Make a paste? Any suggestions?

      Reply
      • Zen says

        December 16, 2023 at 7:31 am

        You can eat them! Or add to soups or stews? I also have a post on how to use goji berries here: https://www.greedygirlgourmet.com/dried-goji-berry-recipes-wolfberry-recipes/

        Reply
    2. Rea says

      April 08, 2022 at 4:11 pm

      5 stars
      Totally tastes like what my grandma made when I was young, thanks!

      Reply
      • Zen says

        April 12, 2022 at 8:55 am

        Hope it brought back happy memories Rea!

        Reply
    5 from 3 votes (2 ratings without comment)

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    Hi I'm Zhen also known as GGG! I couldn't boil water till I was 18! However, I love creating community and nurturing people, so when I lived abroad (in St. Andrews then London) for 11 years, I started hosting regular parties for friends, and that's how I started cooking and helping out in professional kitchens. (Couldn't cook before that!) I even organised a supper club for charity (which strangers came to!) Learning to cook late, I make sure my recipes go into enough detail for those new to Asian cuisine or who love a test kitchen approach to cooking!

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