Stories: The Little Sweet Tea

Back when I was a kid, my father would come home with a tea called the 小叶甘，which literally translates as little sweet tea leaves. It habours an ordinary Chinese tea aroma, but with a sweet aftertaste that's remarkably nostalgic to me and my family even until today. The 小叶甘 tea is most likely a local Malaysian product, but unfortunately, it has all but disappeared from the market some ten years ago. I have been searching for its formula ever since, and now, I claim that I’ve perfected it, and recreated my childhood memory. 

 

The 小叶甘 tea is actually a mixture of dried tea leaves. The first component can be any of the usual Chinese tea such as Oolong, Tie-Gua-Yin, etc, it doesn't matter. The real active ingredient, is the dried leaves of rosary pea (Abrus precatorius, Fabaceae). And by the look of the rosary pea plant, I guess it’s clear what the 'little' means in the 'little sweet tea'. The sweetness comes from a chemical compound in the leaves of rosary pea called glycyrrhizic acid, which is identical to the sweetener found in licorice. The Latin name of licorice, Glycyrrhiza, literally translates as 'sweet roots'. However, unlike licorice roots, the leaves of rosary pea don't produce an earthy taste that we are familiar with. In its pure form, glycyrrhizic acid is about twenty times sweeter than table sugar (sucrose). Besides, it sticks around the tongue longer, giving an extra satisfying sweet aftertaste. Glycyrrhizic acid is a steroidal glycoside, and its steroid nucleus is called enoxolone. Hence, just like a steroid,  glycyrrhizic acid has anti-inflammatory activity, but in high doses it can cause a lot of side effects, including hypertension, fluid retention, potassium loss etc. People have died from high blood pressure resulting from the over-consumption of licorice, so be careful with it. However, given the high potency (low-dose) of glycyrrhizic acid in 小叶甘 , I reckon it is most likely safe, except for those with uncontrolled hypertension or diabetes. Personally, I prefer to keep the dried rosary pea leaves separate, and incorporate them into my ordinary Chinese tea to my own taste. It usually won't be more than a spoonful, but that will suffice for a day.

 

The rosary pea is a semi-hardwood climber that's highly adaptable and invasive to some extent.

If you’ve been following my blog, you'll know that the rosary pea is arguably the world's most poisonous plant, but only the pea! The  rosary pea contain a protein toxin called abrin, which is so poisonous, a fraction of a milligram (less than a grain of sand) is enough to kill an adult human. The toxin stops the body's ability to make crucial proteins that sustain life. So dangerous is abrin, it is classified as a potential bio-weapon of mass destruction, and there is currently no antidote for abrin poisoning. It is well known that people have died from ingesting rosary pea, and it is a most painful and suffering death. I suppose this the reason why  小叶甘 was withdrawn from the market, but in reality, the rosary pea leaves do not contain abrin, or in an amount enough to cause harm. Even so, I don't think that the nostalgic 小叶甘will make a come-back anytime soon. 

 

The  小叶甘 tea is one of my most satisfying botanical experience. After all, it's all about reliving a childhood memory, gaining knowledge along the way, and everything sums up so well into my sweet passion for poison!

To the harvest!