Red Date Tea

Dried jujube dates simmered in water — the Chinese blood-nourishing tonic documented in the Shijing (c. 1046 BCE) and cultivated for approximately 4,000 years.

Red Date Tea — hong zao cha in Mandarin — is prepared from the dried fruits of Ziziphus jujuba, the jujube or Chinese date, whose cultivation in China has been documented for approximately four thousand years, making it one of the oldest continuously cultivated fruits in the country. The jujube appears in the earliest Chinese agricultural and medical texts: the Shijing (Book of Songs, approximately 1046–771 BCE) references jujube cultivation, and the fruit is classified in classical Chinese pharmacopoeia as a blood-nourishing (bu xue) tonic of the highest category. In traditional Chinese medicine, the blood-building properties attributed to red dates align with their documented nutritional content: jujubes are exceptionally rich in Vitamin C, with dried jujubes containing more Vitamin C per gram than fresh citrus fruit, and they also contain significant iron, potassium, and antioxidant compounds. The association of red dates with women's health in Chinese tradition reflects this nutritional profile, as blood-building foods are specifically prescribed for women recovering from menstruation and childbirth. The tea's association with celebrations — weddings, where the bright red fruit's color symbolizes luck and prosperity, and Chinese New Year, where the same symbolic associations apply — is documented across multiple Chinese regional culinary traditions. Red date tea is prepared by simmering dried jujubes in water with optional additions of goji berries, longan fruit, or rock sugar.