A steaming hot cup of Korean Jujube Tea (Daechu Cha) will warm you right up! Make and enjoy a classic hot Korean drink at home. Perfect for sipping during the cold winter months. Filled with antioxidants and BIG Korean flavor – YUM!

this recipe

What is Jujube Tea?

Jujube Tea, also called Daechu Cha, is a Korean tea made from jujubes or red dates. Sweet and fruity, it’s a fruit tea that contains no caffeine. Instead of tea leaves, the flavor comes from a fruit cheong — a Korean sweet syrup made from fermented sugar and fruit. It can be enjoyed hot or cold and is full of earthy flavor from the jujubes.

At the Korean grocery store, you can buy a jar of Jujube paste. But it’s just as easy to make at home. And much less expensive.

To make, you’ll need to rehydrate dried jujubes. Then grind down into paste with sugar. The fresh ginger and cinnamon are optional but add lots of flavor and health benefits. Pack into a sterilized jar and place in the fridge to ferment.

After 1 month, it’s ready! Add a scoopful of the thick, syrupy paste into a cup. Add water, mix, and enjoy!

In Korean cuisine, Daechu Cha is widely considered a healthy drink. Korean Jujube Tea is often enjoyed by children, seniors, and all aged adults. It aids digestion and improves sleep quality. It can be served hot or cold.

What do Jujubes taste like? Jujubes are mildly sweet with a mellow earthy flavor. They pair well with warming ginger and cinnamon. In Korean cuisine, it’s a classic combination.

Jujube Health Benefits

Jujubes are well known as a superfruit in Asian culinary history and Chinese traditional medicine.

They are packed full of antioxidants, vitamin C, and vitamins and minerals. The health benefits are numerous. They boost immunity, lower blood sugar levels, prevent constipation, reverse free radical damage, and even help you sleep better at night.

Ingredients:

Only 4 ingredients are needed for this delicious Korean hot drink!

• Jujubes. Jujubes are dried red dates. They are also known as Chinese red dates. Buy the seedless kind!
• Sugar. The sugar crystals wrap around the minced dates + ginger and melt into sugary, candied goodness. It’s also easier to mix and transfer into the container. I prefer sugar over honey. But you can certainly swap with honey if you like.
• Ginger. Organic ginger is preferred for its peppery bite. Make sure to mince well!
• Cinnamon. Provides depth and subtle earthy sweetness.

How to make Jujube Korean Tea

1. Rehydrate jujubes. Add seedless dried Jujubes or Red Dates to a large bowl. Cover with boiling hot water (from the tea kettle) until the jujubes float. Give it a good stir. Cover with a plate so the jujubes are completely submerged in liquid. Cover and set aside until rehydrated and soft, about 1 hour.
2. Make paste. Drain Jujubes with a fine mesh strainer. Transfer to a food processor. Add minced ginger and cinnamon. Pulse into a thick paste, scraping down the bowl with a spatula. The texture should look like wet sand. Make sure there are no big chunks.
3. Add sugar. Transfer minced jujubes to a large bowl. Add sugar. Mix well with a spoon until the sugar is evenly distributed. It will look like crystalized bits of red dates/jujubes.
4. Store in a jar. Transfer to an airtight container (like a 2L glass jar), packing down with a spatula so that there are no air pockets. Rest at room temperature for 8 hours (or overnight). Transfer and store in the fridge for 1 month.
5. To serve: Scoop out 1 Tbsp of the syrupy paste (or more, depending on taste preference) to a large mug. Add hot water (about 1 cup) directly on top and stir. Steep for 5 minutes. Drink and enjoy!

Watch how to make it:

PRO Tips:

• Use a food processor. Makes the recipe SO much easier. Chopping by hand takes a long time.
• Mince evenly. For a pleasurable Daechu Cha drinking experience, make sure there are no large chunks of dates. Pulse in a food processor until evenly ground.
• Adjust sweetness to your liking. If you’d like a sweeter drink, add more Jujube paste. Or, drizzle a little honey in addition to the paste.
• Use a strainer, if you like. Korean Jujube Tea is a cloudy tea with bits of ground-up jujubes and ginger floating in hot water. That’s the way many people drink it. If you don’t like the idea of floating bits, use a tea strainer.
• Enjoy as a cold drink. Tastes good cold! Double the paste amount, as the taste will not be as strong. Steep with hot water, then cool to room temperature. Add a few ice cubes and enjoy!
• Be careful of cross-contamination. Homemade Jujube Ginger Tea does not contain the same preservatives as store-bought ones. Avoid touching ingredients with dirty hands and always use a clean spoon when scooping a spoonful of paste from the jar. Also, make sure to store in a clean glass jar. The process of fermentation should kill any harmful bacteria but make sure to use equal amounts of sugar and dried red dates.

More drink recipes:

• Korean Apple Tea (Saegwa Cha)
• Dalgona Latte with Honeycomb Toffee
• Korean Strawberry Milk with Sago