Yummy flavor. I followed the label instructions and got a very light golden tea. Nice anise flavor, especially lightly sweetened with some agave nectar. The second infusion was very good as well.
I was hoping that this could replace my licorice without having the same worries about blood pressure, etc, so I googled start anise side effects. Did you know there are two types of star anise? There is a Chinese star anise, which is used as a flavoring, and a Japanese star anise, which is used solely for decoration. The Japanese star anise is deadly. AND you can’t tell which one you have by looking at the dried seed pods. The FDA issued an advisory against consuming teas containing star anise in 2003. Chinese star anise is also used in the manufactor of tamiflu. All very interesting stuff. It tastes good enough that I’ll ignore that FDA advisory.
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Very interesting, I admire you for your courage!
There are chemical tests that they can do to insure they have the right stuff. AND I trust Golden Moon. I wanted to share the information, though. It sounded like most of the actual poisoning cases were people mixing and brewing their own tea from herbs they bought in bulk. Evidentally, people give star anise tea to babies for colic.
That reminds me of a book i’m reading called guns, germs, and steel. Right now its talking about plant domestication and it turns out that many of the fruits and nuts we are familiar with today, were dominently poisionous. It wasn’t until a farmer of some sort stumbled upon an almond tree that didn’t kill him. So he replanted the tree and over thousands of years it became dominant. It’s interesting to think of plants in terms of evolution, and the methods they employ to spread their seeds.
Sounds like an interesting read! I’ll have to take a look at that book.
It’s amazing how inventive the plant kingdom is at devising ways to protect itself from us!! Kind of frightening as well.
Very interesting, I admire you for your courage!
There are chemical tests that they can do to insure they have the right stuff. AND I trust Golden Moon. I wanted to share the information, though. It sounded like most of the actual poisoning cases were people mixing and brewing their own tea from herbs they bought in bulk. Evidentally, people give star anise tea to babies for colic.
That reminds me of a book i’m reading called guns, germs, and steel. Right now its talking about plant domestication and it turns out that many of the fruits and nuts we are familiar with today, were dominently poisionous. It wasn’t until a farmer of some sort stumbled upon an almond tree that didn’t kill him. So he replanted the tree and over thousands of years it became dominant. It’s interesting to think of plants in terms of evolution, and the methods they employ to spread their seeds.
Sounds like an interesting read! I’ll have to take a look at that book.
It’s amazing how inventive the plant kingdom is at devising ways to protect itself from us!! Kind of frightening as well.