[Dandelion]
The other day I found the first dandelion of the year blooming on the bank. It was a very nostalgic moment and I felt spring. The Ginza area has been beautifully paved over, and one rarely sees dirt on the streets. Even so, you sometimes come across a dandelion blooming robustly through a crack in the concrete. I had thought that the English name "dandelion" came from its yellow flowers, which resemble a lion's mane, but it turns out that the jagged leaves of the dandelion resemble a lion's teeth. The dandelion is also very familiar to the Japanese, and I had always thought of it as a Japanese flower, but it is divided into the native Japanese dandelion and the non-native dandelion, and the biggest difference is the shape of the involucre at the base of the flower. The outer bracts of the dandelion are bent downward, whereas the bracts of the Japanese dandelion are facing upward and attached to the inner bracts. Please check them out when you see them.
Dandelion has long been cultivated throughout the world, and the entire plant has been used medicinally. In Indian Ayurveda and Arabian Unani medicine, for liver and gall bladder problems and rheumatism. The indigenous people of North America also use it for kidney problems and to relieve edema. Of course, in Japan, Dandelion root has detoxifying properties, promotes internal cleansing, and is high in dietary fiber, making it useful for regulating the intestinal environment, and more and more people are using it. Dandelion coffee is the easiest to handle and obtain.
Dandelion coffee originated in Poland, where the dandelion prefers a cool climate and moderate sunny weather. Unlike so-called coffee, dandelion root has a warming effect on the body. It contains no caffeine, making it safe for women during pregnancy and lactation. It also has a diuretic effect and is recommended after eating or drinking too much, or when you are worried about swelling. In fact, perhaps because of my advanced age, I started having heart palpitations when I took too much caffeine or drank too much alcohol, so I started drinking dandelion coffee in the morning. Is it because of that? Was it by chance? I don't know, but now I can drink a lot of alcohol! Today I feel the importance of daily maintenance.
There are two types of dandelion coffee: a tea bag type with a light finish and a drip type with a richness similar to coffee. I use a Glocal Standard Products'sTsubame Dripper and an Okai Mafu Shoten's Linen Coffee Filter. The linen has become coffee-colored with age. I usually just rinse it out and sometimes boil it, but I am looking at the product page to see if it is time to replace it with a new one. It's spring!
Glocal Standard Products's Tsubame Dripper
https://www.shokunin.com/en/glocal/dripper.html
Okai Mafu Shoten's Linen Coffee Filter
https://www.shokunin.com/en/okai/coffee.html
Ceramic Japan's Moderato Mug
https://www.shokunin.com/en/ceramicjapan/moderato.html
Ginza Showroom
https://www.shokunin.com/en/showroom/ginza.html
References
https://weathernews.jp/s/topics/202304/120145/
https://www.medicalherb.or.jp/archives/175779
https://himitsu.wakasa.jp/contents/dandelion/
https://shop.sweetsvillage.com/blogs/knowledge/dandelion-coffee-efficacy
