Monk fruit (罗汉果) tea is one of the easiest cooling tea to make at home. The dry goods stores at wet market and chinese medicine halls sell them in bulk without packing, at just 30 cents per fruit. The dry goods store I visit frequently also carries dried longan flesh (minus the shells) in bulk, so I add them to my homemade cooling tea occasionally for additional nutritional benefits.
Just 6 simple steps:
++ Bring a pot of water (1 litre to 1 fruit) to boil.
++ Scrub clean the outer shell of the monk fruit, crush the fruit with bare hands and break up the flesh of the fruit further into 4 parts. Since the fruit is not eaten and needs to be separated from the tea, I try not to crush the shell and flesh into too many tiny pieces to save me the trouble to search for them after making the tea.
++ Add the shell and flesh into the pot of boiling water, boil on high heat for 5 minutes.
++ Add dried longans, turn the heat down slightly, cover the pot and simmer for another 30 minutes.
++ Turn off the heat and let the tea cool down completely.
++ Remove the remains of monk fruit and serve.
The remains go into my frozen stash for composting, nothing for the incinerator.
MONO and CO 