Honeysuckle Flower

Jin Yin Hua means literally “gold and silver flower”, for the buds open white then turn golden yellow within the same day: the two shades sitting together on the one stem.

Picked at the very start of spring, before they fully open, they are dried quickly in the shade to preserve their subtle scent and their natural compounds.

A flagship herb for the heat-poisons of the upper sphere and of the surface. Traditionally used from the first signs of an outside attack of heat, when it makes itself felt at the surface and dries.

Also for constitutions where heat shows as red eruptions on the skin.

• Infusion: 5 to 10 g, water at a simmer (90°C), 7 to 10 minutes, can be combined with Ju Hua for a fully cooling effect
• Short decoction: to be added at the end of cooking (10 minutes) within a blend
• Yin Qiao San: a classic blend with Lian Qiao, Bo He and Niu Bang Zi, from the first shivers of Heat at the surface

To be avoided in cases of deficient Yang with deep cold or of chronically loose stools.

Its sweet flavour otherwise makes it approachable for delicate constitutions.