Cat's Whiskers Tea

I have recently been adding "useful" plants to my garden, such as herbs and fruit trees.

One such plant to join my garden is the misai kucing/ cat's whiskers. It has delicate white flowers with protruding stamens giving it a distinctive look. I first saw the plant at a nursery and read about it, and that its leaves may be brewed as a tea to relieve urinary problems and possibly kidney stones.

Well that piqued my interest so I bought a little bag of the plant and grew it alongside my pandan (screwpine) and serai (lemon grass). It took a few days to settle in, and didn't look very well. I continued to tend it, made sure it didn't dry out and added some rich black soil. It is doing well now and has given me pretty blossoms.

I picked about 15 leaves last weekend and put it into a little pot with 2 cups of water. I boiled it for about 10 minutes - the leaves released a mild yet pleasant fragrance, vaguely hinting of chamomile. I drank the tea plain, with no added sugar. I gave some to hubs to try too, and he agreed it was pleasant-tasting. As for the health benefits, we'll just have to see.