Tag: flowering tea

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Blooming Tea – Flowering Tea In Stock

I have just received my stash of blooming tea (also known as flowering tea) and I’m thrilled! There are ten different varieties, some with a green tea base but most with a white tea base. They’re beautiful.

You can see them all here.

They are not only a very pleasant tea drink but also a real attention getter when entertaining. Just stick one in a glass teapot,  pour on hot water and watch your guests become enthralled at the display. Honestly, even if you don’t drink the tea, the sight of the flower unfurling will be enough to wow most guests. Every one is hand made and each has its own personality. It takes between 5 to 10 minutes for one to totally unfurl.

If you are a tea lover, my suggestion is to let the tea make its presence known, let everyone have a sip of tea and then unveil your ‘best tea’.  For example, you could say, “Oh, wasn’t that great. How about tasting one of my premium white or green or oolong teas?” Then serve your best organic loose leaf tea. A winner. I’m sure.

If you have die-hard black tea drinkers (think Lipton and the sort) you can bring out your premium Red Jade tea and let everyone sample it. I have never added the ol’ “milk and sugar” to it, but I am confident that it would live up to the ol’ cup of Lipton 🙂

Honestly, tea is like wine. Once you have had a good one you will scorn everything else.

Aside from the fact that organic loose leaf teas actually do taste great, they are also very healthy for you. Think of these teas like coffee. Once everyone just drank instant (yuk). Now people buy coffee makers — even drip coffee makers, and enjoy a decent cup of coffee. Tea is the same. Introduce your friends to loose leaf tea and they will be hooked. Nothing quite tastes as good once you have had a decent, freshly brewed loose leaf tea. You can choose: green tea (with its earthy flavor), black tea (which tastes better than any teabag, oolong tea (same health benefits as green tea but a little less organic tasting), or white tea (served to Chinese royalty ONLY for many years.)

Do They Always Work As Expected?

And, back to blooming teas. Not only are they a delight to drink but they are fascinating to watch. Just think, each flowering tea is hand-made.  Most work as they should and (the first disclaimer along these lines I think) you do have the occasional dud. Yup, just like fire-crackers. Sometimes you will drop your tea ball into the boiling water and only half of it will unfurl.  OK, so the fire-cracker doesn’t go off–but the duds are VERY few and far between. We had one on the weekend; it didn’t live up to our expectations. Having said that, it is the only one so far (of many) that has not performed as well as we had hoped. That is probably why we sell 5 in each pack. All 5 should work as planned. If one doesn’t, send me a video of your fail and I will replace your tea x 2.

Blooming teas are exquisite. They are attention getters. They are hand-made, each one. They are a work of art.

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Flowering Teas Available Soon

Hopefully, within the next couple of days, I will have some fresh blooming teas arriving from China!  These are made with either a green or white tea and they are simply gorgeous, taste great and are beautiful to watch unfurl as well.  I wrote previously about flowering tea choices and included a video at the end which shows one of these delicate teas unfurling. The article also included tips on brewing and serving these teas — so if you haven’t read it, you should  catch up on the tips and ideas given.

White Tea Blooming Teas

  • Fairy Flowers Spreading  (Jasmine, Lily blooms)
  • Jasmine with Love  (Jasmine blooms)
  • Love at first sight  (Marigold, Jasmine, Amaranth blooms)
  • Love Story By Tea (Marigold, Amaranth blooms)
  • Tea Flower Attaching (Marigold, Jasmine, Amaranth blooms)
  • Two Dragons Playing Pearls (Marigold, Jasmine, Amaranth blooms)
  • Whispered tea and flowers (Marigold, Jasmine, Amaranth blooms)

 

Green Tea Blooming Teas

  • Ruby (Amaranth blooms)
  • Peacock outspread (Marigold blooms)

 

White Tea

As mentioned in this article about green tea there are quite a few health benefits gained from drinking green tea and few, if any, side effects. What about white tea though?

White tea, just like green, oolong and black tea, comes from the Chinese Camellia sinensis plant. The difference with this tea, which is rumored to have been available only to Chinese Royalty, is that it is made from the buds and youngest leaves of the plants.  These buds and leaves are then left to wither in the sun, then are dried either naturally via sunlight or by other methods. In fact, the actual production of white tea is much simpler than the processes involved in green, oolong or black tea however the actual process of harvesting the tea itself — remember only the sensitive buds and young leaves are picked — is quite time consuming and great care needs to be taken not to damage the tender buds or leaves. For this reason, white tea is usually a little more expensive and up until recently less readily available than other types of common loose leaf tea.

Being from the same plant as green and oolong tea, it naturally contains most of the same health benefits. Some claim that it contains even more antioxidants than regular teas because of the little actual processing of the leaves.  The tea is light in colour and has a very mild, somewhat sweet taste. There are different types of white tea, with each type having a slightly different taste. The earthy or green taste of green teas is not present.

Silver Needle white tea is perhaps the most popular and the best quality of all of the white teas. There is a very short time frame within which the tea can be harvested — it must be harvested before the buds turn into leaves. Thus, this tea is made only from the tea buds. Buds are hand picked and the flavour is the most delicate of all of the white teas.

Next is the White Peony.  Tender buds and two leaves are harvested and made into this fine tea.  As the leaves are a little more mature, the tea is a little darker and slightly stronger tasting than Silver Needle white tea — but still retains the freshness and delicate flavor that white teas are known for.

Finally you will find other types of white tea, such as Snowbud and Tribute Eyebrow (don’t you just love the translations of the tea names!) white teas.  The blooming teas made with white tea that I will have on sale are all made with Silver Needle white tea.

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Blooming Tea — Flowering Tea Choices

 

 

Looking for Blooming Teas?

Buy blooming tea here.

 

 

Photo By: Catherine Bulinski

If you are looking for tea that perhaps epitomizes all that tea is about, you could look no further than the blooming tea or flowering teas. They are, perhaps, the most beautiful of all beverages as they are not only pleasant to look at but they have a delightful taste as well.

What Are Blooming Teas?

Blooming teas, or flowering teas as they are also called, are special blends of teas. Commonly, green tea is combined with naturally herbal flowers or buds. Black tea and oolong tea is also sometimes used. The way they are made is quite unique. Most are handmade, in that a bundle of flowers and tea leaves are tied together with thread into a tight ball. The bundles are made in such a way that when brewed the leaves and flowers unfurl into amazing designs where the tea leaves form the leaves of the flower and the bud or flower unfolds at the centre. In some instances the flowers unfurl into an arch, a dragon’s eye, or even a small boat. To give you an idea of some of the designs, here are some photographs of blooming teas in all their glory!

 

 

The Best Way To Showcase Flower Tea

Usually, blooming teas are steeped in glass teapots so the artistic designs can be easily seen. Some people prefer to brew tea in a glass teacup instead. Often it is served at the end of a meal where the teapot is set in the middle of the table so everyone can appreciate it. You will also find it served with a light afternoon or morning snack, again placed on the table so everyone can enjoy watching the flower unfold.

Our Blooming Teas

We have a selection of blooming teas available now. These teas are made using green tea or white tea as the base.

Our selection includes teas made with jasmine flowers, Osmanthus, Lily, Globe Amaranth, Marigold and possibly chrysanthemum and marigolds! If you are interested in buying blooming teas please take a look at the flowering teas now available in our store.

How To Brew Blooming Teas

There are a couple of different ways you can prepare your flowering tea, however most recommend that you first pour the boiling water into a glass teapot and then drop the blooming tea into the water. Naturally, you will want to prepare the tea in a heat resistant glass teapot. Another suggestion is to place the tea pot over a tea warmer and light small tea candles. The light from the candles will shine up into the blooming tea, making it even more unique and exquisite.

If you wish to prepare a blooming tea for each guest–which really is a great way to end a meal with friends–you can also prepare the tea in separate glasses or cups. Because you will want to see the blooming tea unfold completely it is recommended that you use large sized glass cups or even large wine or martini glasses (providing they are heat resistant).

Normally you would use one ball for about 500 ml. of water or for a less strong tea, up to 1 litre of water. With this tea you let it steep for at least three minutes as that gives the flower long enough to unfold. Though you may be tempted to do so, don’t try to stir the water in order to hasten the process as it will not have the desired effect.

As with other loose leaf teas, you can reuse the blooming tea and make several different steepings from it, however you should not keep the bloom to reuse the following day for making tea. You can, however, place the blooming tea in a vase or glass and admire it for several days until the flowers begin to wilt.

Some people mention that they prefer to place the blooming tea into the already freshly boiled water as small pieces do not break off as easily; you can always experiment to see what you prefer and what gives you the best tasting tea.

In Conclusion

I recently read an article from Hsiao-Ching Chou, written for the Seattle PI website, that I thought perfectly expressed the reason why blooming tea is such a wonderful addition to the table. As he said, ” This is definitely not a grab-and-go drink. Enjoying a flowering tea requires time and contemplation — and a glass teapot.”

Here is a quote from his article. Think about it, and then watch the video, courtesy of House of Blossoms, included at the end of the article. You’ll soon see why blooming teas or flowering teas are becoming so popular!

“I steeped two of the teas, one in each pot, and watched them reconstitute and relax in the hot water. It was a visual reminder that I need to soak in the comfort of a quiet moment, sipping green aromas and allowing the calm to blossom.”