Blooming tea reveals natures beauty. Let me tell you how.

Do you appreciate beautiful flowers and enjoy the taste of tea? My readers know that I enjoy tasting many different teas. They also know I appreciate the beauty and scent of flowers. You may be surprised to know we can enjoy both things at the same time.

 

	Starting the process

 

It's true that there are many flowers we can add to some foods. Nasturtiums can be included in your salad recipe. You will enjoy eating the salad, but the flowers are then gone.

I've made a list of some flowers you can use in food. These make a nice garnish as well as adding flavor to many dishes.

• Squash blossoms
• Pumpkin blossoms
• Violets
• Lilacs
• Carnations
• Marigolds
• Roses
• Pansies
• Chamomile
• Chrysanthemums
• Shasta daises
• Geraniums

Blooming Tea steeping - view from top
Blooming Tea steeping - side view

 

I like the exotic idea of serving something both beautiful and unusual. In the end though, after the dish is eaten the beautiful flower is gone.

How can you have your cake and eat it too? Let me introduce you to blooming tea. It is also called flowering tea.

These teas are made by artisans and are crafted by hand. China is known for creating these special tea bouquets. The practice dates back hundreds of years.

The tea used can be white, green or black. The leaves must be fresh for the artisans to be able to form them into a desired shape. The flowers to be used are tucked inside the leaves and held with cotton thread. The final step to forming the shape involves twisting the tea leaves to hide the surprise inside.

When you look at some blooming teas before infusion they can resemble a child's toy. They reminded me of a spinning top I had when I was young.

If you saw this tea before infusion you may not even guess that it is tea. I remember wondering what on earth it was.

Part of the enjoyment of serving these blooming teas is watching the surprise emerge. You will want to place it in a glass tea pot. Pour hot water over the tea and prepare to watch nature immerge. It makes me think of photosynthesis.

Remember science class, when we had to watch movies of plants growing from seed to flower. Something that took weeks or months was filmed to make it appear to be happening in an instant.

As the tea absorbs the water the leaves will spread open. The skill of the artist who crafted this bloom is now revealed.

Here is our "cake" sitting in the tea. Now we can drink the tea and enjoy its floral scent and taste. The "cake" still rests in the tea pot for us to see. We can pour more water over the flower and drink more tea. Still the flower sits in the tea pot.

After I had my fill of tea, I carefully lifted the blooming tea out of the pot. I set it to dry in a crystal dish inherited from my mom. That bloom still has a home in my china cabinet today. Every so often I glance in at it and it makes me think of mom. She loved both tea and flowers. I don't think she ever had the chance to see or taste blooming tea.

Any way, that's how I still have my cake (flower) and ate (drank) it too. Definitely something I would recommend you trying.

 

 

Other articles for you

Interesting Tea Facts

Blooming tea uses

Where can we find flowering tea

Volcano Flower

Top of Blooming Tea
Home to Your cup of tea