What is Lespedeza cuneata tea?

Lespedeza cuneata tea is a single-use tea bag made from dried young leaves of the Lespedeza cuneata plant. Simply place the tea bag in hot water and steep for 1-2 minutes to enjoy its unique taste and aroma. It has a taste and scent similar to mugwort, with a subtle savory undertone. Whether served hot or cold, the delicate flavor and aroma of the Lespedeza cuneata remain consistent. Here is an introduction to the raw material, Lespedeza cuneata.

Lespedeza cuneata

Lespedeza cuneata(夜關門) is a highly renowned health plant, much like the "Five Seeds" (Oja) and Epimedium. "Oja"(五子) is a collective term for five specific fruits or seeds (Rubus coreanus, Schisandra, Wolfberry, Cnidium, and Cuscuta). Today, Lespedeza cuneata and Epimedium are recognized as health plants that can be used as permitted or restricted food ingredients. There was a time in the past when they could not be used as food ingredients. Below is a picture of a Lespedeza cuneata field.

Lespedeza cuneata is a plant in the Fabaceae family and Lespedeza genus, native to Korea, China, Japan, Taiwan, India, and Australia. It looks similar to a bush clover and is often called "Three-leaf grass"(三葉草) because its leaves come in groups of three. It blooms around August-September. "Yagwanmun" is the Sino-Korean name, while the native Korean name is "Bisoori". The picture on the bottom left shows a close-up of the stem, and the right picture shows the leaves and flowers when the plant is in bloom. You can see how each small stem holds three leaves.

Lespedeza cuneata is even more famous in China than in Korea; it has as many as 46 nicknames, which is evidence of how widely recognized it is among the Chinese people.

The name "Yagwanmun" (夜關門) translates to "a gate that closes at night." Other nicknames include Eumyangcho(陰陽草, Yin-Yang Herb) and Baekgwanmun(白關門, White Gate). The names are quite unique, ranging from the "gate of the night," to the duality of male and female (Yin-Yang), and the "gate of the day" (Baekgwanmun). Due to its unique name, it even appeared as the title of the 2013 movie "Yagwanmun" starring Shin Seong-il and Bae Seul-gi.

Some of its other nicknames include Gaemuncho(開門草), meaning "opening the gate," Paemuncho(閉門草), meaning "closing the gate," and Yapyecho(夜閉草), meaning "locking the gate at night." It has an unusually high number of nicknames related to the word "gate" (門).

Components of Lespedeza cuneata

We will briefly introduce a few important components found in Lespedeza cuneata.

Traditional Folk Uses

Since Lespedeza cuneata is not widely used for food in Korea, traditional folk preparation methods are limited. Here are a few simple methods:

Until 2013, Lespedeza cuneata could only be sold as a health ingredient and not as a food ingredient, but since 2013, it has been permitted as a food raw material.

The supplier is Onyudam (CEOs: Yoon Seong-hyun, Jo Su-in), and the manufacturer is Hapcheon Medicinal Herb Processing Agricultural Cooperative (CEO: Baek Moon-gi). After managing a health ingredient farm with his parents for over 20 years, CEO Baek established the Hapcheon Medicinal Herb Processing Agricultural Cooperative in 1996, built a processing facility the following year, received the $500,000 Export Tower award for the first time in 2003, and served as the 17th-18th President of the Korea Medicinal Herb Association.

Located in Hapcheon-eup, Hapcheon-gun, the cooperative grows over 60 varieties of healthy plants, including chrysanthemum, hydrangea, mulberry, persimmon, peony, achyranthes, safflower, motherwort, schisandra, wolfberry, cornus fruit, astragalus, green tea, actinidia, and bellflower, using them as raw materials for healthy tea. The cooperative sells its products through domestic and international channels and also provides OEM manufacturing for other companies.

The cooperative received the Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Award in 2002, registered the trademark "Sanggrime" in 2007, attained the international food safety certification ISO22000 in 2015, was registered as a venture company in the same year, patented a method for producing bellflower tea in 2017, received the HACCP certification (No. 2018-2-9156) in 2018, and received organic certification (No. 17100199) for its chrysanthemums in 2019, cementing its status as a robust small-but-mighty business. A brief introduction of the Hapcheon Medicinal Herb Processing Agricultural Cooperative is below.

- The name of the depositor must match the name provided during the order; orders not paid within 3 days are automatically canceled.

- Orders placed before 3 PM can be delivered the next day; orders after 3 PM can be delivered the day after next.

- Additional shipping costs may apply for island regions.

- For bank transfers, shipping begins after payment is confirmed.

- Shipping may be delayed during holidays or due to specific circumstances with the courier company.

- Exchange/Return is possible within 7 days of receiving the product.

- If the delivered product differs from the labeling or advertising, within 3 months of receipt or within 30 days of discovering the discrepancy.

- If the product is lost or damaged due to reasons attributable to the customer (excluding cases where the packaging was opened to inspect the product).

- If the packaging has been opened or damaged, resulting in the loss of product value.

- If the product value has significantly decreased due to customer use or partial consumption.

- If the product value has significantly decreased over time, making it difficult to resell.

- If the packaging of a copyable product has been damaged.

- If you request an exchange or return due to a change of mind, you must bear the shipping costs.