Tea that is of, If Not for, Insects — Its Place in Culture

Some tea news, for thee:

“Insect tea, a wonderful work in the Chinese tea culture,” Lijia Xu, Huimin Pan, Qifang Lei, Wei Xiao, Yong Peng, Peigen Xiao, Food Research International, epub January 17, 2013. The authors, at the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, and at the Ministry of Education, in Beijing, China, explain:

“Insect tea… is not only a traditional drink for the ethnic minority in southwest China, but also one of China’s traditional export commodities. Insect tea is made of the feces of insects that feed on plants, and characterized by minimal dose, enjoyable tea flavor, few tea-residues, and superb transparency…. At present, due to the household production of insect tea, there are a variety of species of tea-producing insects and feeding plants. In the present review, we summarized the types, civilian applications, nutritional value, pharmacological activity and safety of insect tea.”

Detail from the study: