Amacha and dulcin

In the past I would have told you to ask in alt.folklore.herbs. Unfortunately it has been obliterated by everything and anything but a discussion of herbs. This group is still good for asking about typical dried flowers and fruit added to tea. We do have people who are familiar with Japanese teas so maybe they came across this herb.

Jim

Hi--

For what it is worth, the Japanese Wikipedia mentions the phyllo- dulcin, but does not report health concerns about drinking this tea.

Amacha, in Japanese, is literally sweet (ama) tea (cha).

I suspect the concern is about the highly concentrated phyllo-dulcin extract rather than the amacha itself. Also, it does not seem that this is a wildly popular drink in Japan. I lived in Japan for 6 years, but never heard of it except for its ritual use in bathing statues of the just-born historical Buddha in April. There are apparently certain regions where people drink it regularly, though this would certainly be a small population.

For anybody who was confused (as I was), "hortensia" is another name for what I have always called "hydrangea."

james-henry holland

sorry i have never heard of it. maybe you can try some healthier tea which is safe.

Thanks all for your answers.

Which does not mean there is no health concerns :-/

Yep!