If you want to know how to make goji berry tea, the short answer is this: steep a spoonful of dried goji berries — the small red fruit of the Lycium shrub, often called wolfberries — in hot (not boiling) water for about 5 to 10 minutes, until the berries plump up and the water turns a soft golden-orange. The result is a mild, naturally sweet-tart infusion with a honey-and-tomato-ish note that you can sip hot or pour over ice, and you can eat the softened berries once your cup is empty. No special equipment required — a mug and a kettle will do.
What goji berry tea is (and how it tastes)
Goji berry tea is not tea in the strict sense. It contains no leaves from the Camellia sinensis plant, so it is a caffeine-free herbal infusion made purely from fruit. The berries come from two closely related shrubs, Lycium barbarum and Lycium chinense, and "wolfberry" is simply the older English name for the same fruit — you will sometimes see the finished drink sold as wolfberry tea. If you want the wider picture of how fruit-and-herb infusions differ from true tea, our guide to what is herbal tea covers the distinction.
The berries have deep roots in East Asian and Himalayan food culture. They are widely grown in the Ningxia region and across parts of China, where they turn up in tonic soups, congee, rice porridge and steeped drinks. Dried, they look like tiny elongated red raisins, and they keep for months, which is part of why a jar of them is such a handy thing to have in the cupboard.
Flavour is the reason most people come back to goji tea. On its own the infusion is gentle and lightly sweet, with a tart edge and that curious savoury undertone people often describe as somewhere between honey, cranberry and sun-dried tomato. It is far softer than a hibiscus or black-tea brew, which makes it easy to drink plain or to build on with other ingredients.
How to make goji berry tea, step by step
This simple goji berry tea recipe needs nothing more than dried berries and hot water. The measurements below make one generous mug; scale them up for a small teapot, and treat everything after the first two rows as optional.
| Ingredient | Amount | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Dried goji berries (wolfberries) | 1 tablespoon (about 10 g) | The only essential ingredient; rinse before use |
| Hot water | 250 ml (about 8-10 oz) | Around 80-90 C / 175-195 F, just off the boil |
| Red dates (jujube), optional | 2-4, halved | Adds body and caramel-like sweetness |
| Dried chrysanthemum flowers, optional | 1 teaspoon | Floral, gently cooling counterpoint |
| Fresh ginger, optional | 2-3 thin slices | Warming; nice in cooler weather |
| Honey or a little lemon, optional | To taste | Stir honey in once the tea has cooled slightly |
- Rinse the berries. Tip your spoonful of dried goji berries into a small sieve and rinse briefly under cool running water to wash off any dust.
- Add them to your cup or pot. Drop the rinsed berries straight into a mug, heatproof glass or small teapot, along with any of the optional extras you fancy.
- Pour on hot, not boiling, water. Aim for roughly 80-90 C (175-195 F) — water that has come to a boil and then sat for a minute. Very hot water will still soften the fruit, but a gentler temperature keeps the flavour rounder and less flat.
- Steep for 5 to 10 minutes. The berries will swell and the liquid will turn a clear golden-orange. Closer to ten minutes gives a deeper, sweeter cup. For how timing changes the character of an infusion, see how long to steep tea.
- Sip, then eat the berries. Drink the infusion warm and spoon out the plumped berries to eat — they are soft, mildly sweet and perfectly edible. Many people top the same berries up with fresh hot water two or three times before finally discarding them.
Want a stronger, more concentrated brew? Simmer the berries gently in a small pot for 10 to 15 minutes instead of steeping in the cup. Simmering is also the usual move when you add red dates or ginger, which give up more of their flavour with a little sustained heat. The broader knack of coaxing flavour out of dried botanicals is covered in our guide to how to brew herbal tea.
Variations to try
Goji berries are a team player, and a small handful of pantry additions turns the plain infusion into something more layered.
- Chrysanthemum and goji. A classic East Asian pairing: add a teaspoon of dried chrysanthemum flowers to the berries. The flowers bring a light, floral, faintly cooling note that balances the fruit's sweetness. Steep the two together for about 5 minutes.
- Goji and red date. Halve two to four dried red dates (jujube) and simmer them with the berries for 10 to 15 minutes. The dates add a rounded, caramel-like sweetness and a fuller body, so you rarely need any extra sweetener.
- Goji and ginger. A few slices of fresh ginger make a warming cup for cold mornings. Simmer it briefly with the berries to draw out the ginger's bite.
If you enjoy this style of gently sweet, fruit-forward infusion, you might also like how to make hawthorn tea, another traditional berry brew with a bright, tangy character.
Hot vs iced
Goji tea is just as good cold. Make it at double strength — twice the berries, or a longer steep — then let it cool and pour it over plenty of ice, since chilling always mutes flavour. A squeeze of lemon and a touch of honey turn it into an easy, refreshing iced drink for warm weather. You can also brew it cold from the start: cover the berries with cool water in a jar, refrigerate for 6 to 8 hours, then strain and serve.
How to store dried goji berries
Dried goji berries keep well as long as you protect them from air, heat and moisture. Transfer them to an airtight jar or a resealable bag and store them somewhere cool, dark and dry, such as a pantry or cupboard — an opened pack kept that way stays good for up to a year. In a humid kitchen, a food-safe silica packet tucked into the jar helps stop them clumping, and you can stretch their life further by keeping them in the refrigerator or freezer. If the berries darken heavily, smell off, feel sticky or show any sign of mould, let them go; when in doubt, throw it out.
Is goji berry tea safe to drink?
For most people, goji berries are simply a food — eaten dried by the handful, cooked into dishes or steeped like this — and a cup of goji tea is a gentle, everyday drink. The part you use is the ripe fruit, and there is no toxic part of the berry to work around the way there is with some other botanicals. Even so, a few sensible cautions are worth knowing, and responses vary from person to person, so please treat the following as general information rather than medical advice.
Goji can interact with certain medicines. There are documented reports of goji increasing the effect of blood thinners such as warfarin, and it may also add to the effect of some blood-pressure or blood-sugar medications. If you take any of these — or any prescription medicine — it is worth spacing goji well away from your dose and, more importantly, asking your own doctor or pharmacist before you make it a regular habit. Pregnant or breastfeeding people are also usually advised to be cautious with goji and to check with their own healthcare provider first. None of this makes goji tea risky for the average healthy drinker; it simply means a quick word with a professional is the smart move if any of those apply to you.
Beyond that, keep the framing light: enjoy goji berry tea because it is warming, pretty in the cup and genuinely pleasant to drink, rather than as a treatment for anything.