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Blooming Tea

written by Susan Buchananfor Venus Rising Magazine

Pisces 08 Issue

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 Such tea was originally made for show, not for drinking, hence its common name, display tea.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. 

The intricate designs are often given special names reflecting either the final shape or the flowers used. Lychee nut is a popular name and does not indicate that the tea will taste like lychee fruit but is so named because of the dried bud’s appearance, similar to that of the small tropical fruit. Other makers call this simple tea ball dragon eyeball. Names reflecting a blossom’s color include sunset bloom, aloha bloom, and fire bloom. Named for their design, blossoming teas have been dubbed falling water, tea basket, or fairy blossom, to name just a few.      

Specific flowers may also be used to create certain properties for the final brew. For example, the combination of green tea, chrysanthemum, globe amaranth, and jasmine flowers are thought to improve blood circulation and reduce stress. Although this method of combining tea and flowers seems mostly symbolic, it is true that the tea leaves used have great nutritional attributes. White, black, and green teas contain polyphenols that act as anti-oxidants, which help to protect against degenerative diseases. Green tea is the rage of late, both in scientific studies and marketing blurbs. To date it is thought to have the most dramatic effect on health including being a weight loss stimulant, a muscle relaxant in cases of bronchial asthma, rich in flavanoids that have anti-oxidant properties and good for cleansing, providing clear thinking during fasts. This gives green tea growing popularity as tea shops proliferate and tea culture spreads west. 

Still, the number of tea shops does not come close to matching even a small percentage of the number of coffee shops in the U.S. Just when it seems that coffee shops have reached their saturation point another Starbucks pops up on another street corner. But maybe that is just as well. There is a mystique about tea, an ancient history, rituals in brewing and serving all of which may be much better served by maintaining its slowness and uniqueness. 

Blooming teas are certainly available at specialty tea shops where you can sit and watch the blooming in special glass pots. If you want the same show at home look for buds in sealed packages at those same tea shops or in the tea section of some health food stores. Or, if you prefer and want to see what the final tea sculpture will look like, shop online at one of these tea purveyors, www.FullBloomTea.com , www.teaposy.com , or www.artisan-tea.com.  These shops have beautiful websites, a good choice of teas and blooms, and are easy to navigate. You don’t need a special pot to brew these beauties, try a large mason jar or a clean wide vase. The show doesn’t have to end after the bloom is full and the tea is consumed. Gently refill the vessel with cold water and leave the blossom out as a decoration. It will continue to provide visual joy for about a week. Blooming tea is the perfect way to take time to see and experience the potential of tea and to usher in a season that isn’t quite here yet.

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