Venus Rising

Food for SoulIssue: Pisces 08

Blooming Tea

Watercolor by Philip GaligaMarch ushers in a fluid uncertainty. According to the solar calendar it is winter. However, both real and imagined hints of the next season are sneaking into our sights and into our minds. We can experience indoor blossoms by forcing paper whites or amaryllises. A good start, but we still need warmth. A hot cup of tea on a March morning or late winter evening is just the trick, especially when the tea blooms! Tea that blooms can make the season’s cup exciting and amazing, fulfilling several desires at once. With warmth, calmness, and beauty − blossoming tea can reawaken eyes, mind, and soul.

Almost all tea originates in bud form and is plucked apart for the consumer. In developed countries it is packaged in convenience bags for the one cup shot. In European culture it is loose and steeped in a pot making enough for an intimate group. In Asian culture it is the drink of nations, poured morning, noon and night. Leaves, or disembodied buds, are used for all of these brews. Buds intact, or recreated from tea leaves, however, is a signature of China, where tying tea leaves and flowers together is an ancient art. Such tea was originally made for show, not for drinking, hence its common name, display tea. Also called blooming or flowering tea it is created by artisans who hand-tie fresh young tea leaves together at one end to form compact buds often flattened to look like green spindly rosettes. Additionally, artists often add flower buds or flower petals in unique integrated configurations to produce tea sculptures in the final display. Once the tea, buds, and petals are tied as desired they are shaped into a tight ball and dried. 

When placed in hot water the buds slowly and methodically blossom before your eyes. In about three minutes the entire bud is open, showing a full open “tea flower." The intricacy is seen in the performance. First, the green outside leaves start to wiggle and pull away from the ball. As they open and flatten layer by layer, a small petal may protrude from the middle of the bud, indicating the color to come. As steeping progresses, dainty strings of flowers may pop up and extend to the top of the water. Or, large flowers will protrude and expand one petal at a time. It is mesmerizing.   

Flowering tea is not only a beautiful show for the eyes, it also releases the delicate aromas of the flowers, buds, and tea for the nose, and it is subtle and soothing to drink. Most blossoms create a clear tea with a greenish yellow tint providing a soft clean herbal taste. When flowers are added, the tint may change and a slight sweet floral flavor comes through. The most popular flower hand-sewn into blooming tea is jasmine. Its small white blossoms can be strung together to unfold into tall flower pillars or arches that exude an intoxicating floral aroma. Chrysanthemums create perfect flower bases from which a jasmine string or smaller bloom can sprout. Lily flowers are as popular as they are large when they blossom in hot water, providing an ample solo show. Also common are rosy-colored globe amaranths, petite carnations, and marigolds. Each flower is used for its own unique color, shape, and size depending on the desired outcome.