Blooming Tea

Looks like somehow I never published this post??? I wrote it in 2009 I think...


开花茶, kai hua cha (open flower tea) or Blooming Tea. I love these, they are so beautiful!

At first they look like a small dried ball of tea but when you pour hot water over them they slowly start to open into a "flower." 

There is an infinite number of blooming teas to choose from, main ingredient is generally green tea (or white tea in some cases.) The flowers used most commonly are Jasmine, marigold, yellow crysathamum, lily, globeamaranth, tropaeolum, camellia, jade iris, sweet osmanthus and carnations. They sew together different types of flowers and tea to create all kinds of designs and tastes.