Gol gavzaban: borage flowers tea (گل گاوزبان)

Now this is a nicely odd tea: gentle blue and tasting like cucumbers. Gol gavzaban or borage is mostly used as a savoury herb in the South of France. Iranians, an ancient and sophisticated nation that they are, pick just the flowers and make tea out of them. They claim it has health benefits but I think they drink mostly because it is so bizarre and when you have a few millennia of tea-drinking behind you, you need something like this to get past your excitement threshold and get the kick.

Persian delight: rose petal tea (چای گلبرگ رز)

here are very few people who don't enjoy the scent of dry rose petal potpourri, even if secretly. Iranians, a nation so old that they used to go to war with Ancient Greece, make a gently scented tea out of it. It is no wonder, as they are also credited with giving the world the garden rose as we know it.

I discovered rose petal tea (چای گلبرگ رز) in my neighbourhood Persian shop. I love to drop by there and get light-headed from the overpowering aromas of spices. On that day I was cycling by, when I saw shelves with marked down products standing outside. The Dutch in me couldn't resist that.

When I was a kid, we had rose petal jam from Moldavia. That is why when I saw a bag with "rose petal tea" written on it, the idea of roses as food didn't strike me as outlandish.

Websites selling alternative medicines claim that rose petal tea cures about anything from sweaty feet to adult attention deficiency syndrome. I don't know if it is true or not, I simply enjoy its soothing effect and how well it goes with Middle Eastern sweets.

Lipton's Caribbean infusion: good things come from corporations too!

all it a commercial concoction, I don't care! This Caribbean infusion is made by Lipton and, as it goes, I have never seen it on sale outside France. It has a corruptingly sweet, tropical smell yet there is not a wee dram o' sugar in it.

They brand it as "hibiscus and papaya flavoured" but it also contains orange blossoms, lemon grass, orange rind, licorice and rose petals. Quite a mix, innit?

If I have any left over (hardly ever, truth be told), I add liquid cane sugar and cool it in the fridge. Served with ice on a hot day, it is superbly delectable.

Hui Sup tea: the drying by drinking paradox (去濕茶)

am always on the lookout for new herbal teas. This time I spotted this bag in a Chinese supermarket. Its strange name was what caught my eye: Dehydrating Tea (去濕茶) .

Now you drink tea to replenish liquid in your body, not the other way around. I consulted my Singaporean friend Han-sheng, aka Hon-sang, if you choose to call him in his native Cantonese. He is an accomplished graphic designer and a very erudite man, versed in both Oriental and Western cultures.

According to him, the Chinese drink this herbal tea in summer, when our water intake understandably increases. As a result, our yin aspect, the moist and inactive element, goes up. This makes us feel battered and listless. Hui Sup tea (去濕茶) is made of herbs that increase the dry and vigorous yang aspect without depriving our body of the essential liquid. Quite a trick , isn't it: drying up by drinking?

"So what do you do living on the equator, where the summer never ends?", I kept quizzing. "We just drink it year around." There is no outwitting the Chinese.

For those of you who can't get hold of it where you live but want to fix a yang-boosting infusion themselves here's the ingredients breakdown:

• Artemisia capillaris (20%)
• Flos gossampini (30%)
• Flos puerariae (17%)
• Rhizoma dioscoreae (13%)
• Honeysuckle (7%)
• Juncus effusus (4%)
• Rhizoma alismatis (9%)

Bombax ceiba or wood cotton flowers (木綿花) can also be added to the mix as they clear excessive heat from the internal organs and help regulate the kidney function.

Winter treat: Apple cinnamon infusion tea

here is a strict 3PM caffeine curfew for me. I can't have even regular tea past that deadline else I stay awake with my eyes glowing in the dark until next morning. This is how I got into the habit of buying herbal teas wherever I go.

This apple cinnamon infusion is produced by Lipton but I saw it on sale only in France. It is a perfect companion to a warm blanket and a nice book on a cold winter evening.

Jamaican cerassie/corilla herbal tea

Regular tea or coffee after 3PM gives me insomnia for the next night. That is why I am very big on herbal teas and infusions.

In Russia, herbal teas are a part of daily life. Mint, linden blossoms, rose hip, nettles, St. John's wort and willowherb are both commonly self-administered for medicinal purposes and enjoyed just for their flavour.

I get excited every time I discover a new type of caffeine-free beverage. This time I stumbled upon Jamaican cerassie or corilla at Brixton Market. The tea comes out rather bitter but it is purported to cleanse blood and purge pimples. But for those alleged properties I don't see why anyone would drink this willingly.

How to make real ginger tea

he humankind has come up with more than one uses for ginger. However, my favourite is to make tea from it. Tea here means hot drink, herbal tea if you will, as no actual tea leaves get anywhere close to the pot.

The recipe is simple, to make 1.5 litres of tea:

1. Grate a 7-8-cm piece of ginger.
2. Grind the rind off a lemon.
3. Tip 1 and 2 into a pot with hot water.
4. When it cools down somewhat, squeeze half a lemon into it.
5. Add honey to taste.

The sweet-and-sour combination of lemon juice and honey with the zesty tinge of ginger and lemon rind warms you up from the inside like good brandy. It is ideal for colds or just cold winter evenings.