This gorgeous white leaf is not a tea, but an herb. Mei Cha 莓茶 is made from the leaves of the vine Nekemias grossedentata. Native to southern China and related to grapevines, Mei Cha is a regional specialty of the Tujia ethnic minority who developed an elaborate process for it similar to the process for making tea, involving rolling, withering, and fermenting. During this process, the leaves develop a distinctive “white frost" on them that makes them resemble lichens or moss. This process dates back more than 600 years and is traditionally done exclusively by women. They do not contain caffeine and when properly steeped they have a bright, sweet, and abundantly fruity taste that is honestly reminiscent of a whole bag of gummy bears. Meicha is best steeped at a low dosage (~2 grams/100 ml water). When overdosed or oversteeped, they can become intensely bitter. There is a substantial body of research into the health effects of this tisane, which is sometimes referred to in the scientific literature as Vine Tea or Moyeam.
