Borage

The Essentials

You'll notice the colour first: Gol-e gāv-zabān is the Persian mood-and-heart tea, pink-tinted and lightly sweetened with nabāt (Persian rock candy). Most of what is sold in Iran is Echium amoenum rather than true European borage.

Take it in cycles of two to three weeks rather than continuously. Its alkaloids (strong plant compounds that act on the body even in small amounts) load the liver.

Anyone drinking it daily should stick to certified PA-free (free of pyrrolizidine alkaloids, natural plant compounds that can harm the liver) flowers.

Persians have brewed gol-e gāv-zabān flowers for centuries as a gentle tea for the heart and mood. The violet-blue petals turn the cup pink, and generations have reached for it when sorrow feels heavy.

Known to botanists as Borago officinalis / Echium amoenum.

It also acts as a mild diaphoretic (a substance that makes you sweat), supporting the body through a cold, and the flowers carry polyphenols (protective plant compounds).