How to Brew and Enjoy Blooming or Flowering Tea
Do you like flowers? What about in your tea?
Flowering teas (also known as blooming teas) are hand-crafted bundles of green or white tea leaves bunched artfully into clusters that, when placed into hot water, unfurl their leaves and allow the drinker to not only revel in the taste of the tea, but its visual beauty as well.
TeaVivre makes a number of different flowering teas, but this article focuses on their True Love flavor. TeaVivre combines their tasty Silver Needle green tea with marigold, jasmine, and amaranth flowers.
Two amaranths are strung so they bloom upward in a “lovers’ dance” as they bob gently and charmingly in the heated water.
Instructions for Brewing
- Boil water to fill your glass teapot or tall glass mug. (My teapot holds 32 ounces, but some pots hold 40 ounces or more.) I boil water in my electric kettle and pour it into the clear pot.
- Drop in the tea ball and let it do its thing! It should take about 5 minutes for the bottom of the tea ball to drop out and for the special design to show itself.
- Pour into your cup, sip, and enjoy!
Drinking Your Tea
After brewing, the True Love tea turns a beautiful light yellow-green color, which is delightful to look at. The smell is slightly grassy and very fresh.
The flavor of True Love tea is mild due to the long and lovely Silver Needle green tea leaves, and I personally found that it settled my stomach.
It even seemed to freshen up my breath while cooling my throat, which I was not expecting but was extremely pleasant nevertheless. It tastes smooth and refreshing, without any hints of stick-like or twiggy flavors.
Be sure to brew flowering tea in a glass mug or even better, in a glass teapot or heat-safe pitcher to let it really expand.
Why not enjoy flowering tea as iced tea? (Wouldn’t a flowering drink be a pleasant addition to a picnic or outdoor meal on a hot summer day?) To avoid cracking your glass pitcher, brew the tea in something heat-safe the night before, then remove the flower and set it aside overnight. Add the cooled liquid to the glass pitcher (i.e. a martini pitcher) when you are ready to serve, then drop the tea flower in, so your company can all appreciate the blooming as well.
The tea ball is not a sentient being, but I found myself transfixed as it expanded and showed its secrets. I loved the way the amaranth flowers appeared to dance around each other like sweethearts, and the Silver Needle tea leaves were especially compelling as they unfolded themselves from their tight grip.
Have you ever enjoyed flower tea?
Reusing Flower Tea Balls
How’s this for earth-friendly recycling? Flower tea can be reused!
The tea ball can be re-brewed twice more within a period of 24 hours, so don’t throw it away after a single brewing. The second and third brewings taste much more delicate, but are still worthy of enjoying.
Things to Remember
When I brewed this batch, I placed the tea ball into the pot first, which is not the correct way. The pot should really be filled with hot water first, then add the tea ball. But I wanted to see what would happen… the only unusual happenstance was that the tea ball bounced around ungracefully before its reveal.
The only disconcerting thing I’ve discovered while enjoying flowering tea balls is that I typically receive a few jasmine petals in my mouth, especially toward the end of each cup. While not entirely unpleasant, it still makes for an uncomfortable moment if you are sharing the tea with someone you are trying to impress... and need to remove petals from your mouth!
Post-Bloom
Comments
- Author
Wonderful, teaches! Do you brew in a glass cup, or do you brew the whole thing in a teapot? I think drinking it from a cup with the flower in would be sooo luxurious.
A friend of mine started me on these beautiful teas a few years back. I must say that the tea is much more enjoyable when served in this fashion. Thanks for the read and lovely photo examples.
- Author
Thanks Brian for the follow and the lovely comment. I appreciate it! Happy new year!
It's always a pleasure to learn of something both useful and beautiful.
- Author
Hi, Jamie! Thanks so much for the compliment! I hope your daughter enjoys the tea and teapot. :)
- Author
Thank so much, Ish! I had a wonderful time putting together this video, and I really appreciate the votes, pins, and shares. I'm soo glad you enjoyed it! Happy New Year to you!!!
Thank you for this awesome hub.. I have been wanting to get my daughter one of these! You have explained everything quite well. I think these tea pots are gorgeous.
An amazing hub with an incredible video, clear instructions and attractive photos! This is indeed unique and I enjoyed the wonderful video! Rated it 5 stars! Way to go!
Happy New Year 2013!
Thanks for SHARING. Useful, Awesome & Interesting. Voted up, pinned & shared both on HubPages & Facebook
- Author
Thanks, Brainy Bunny! That was really just a happy accident. :)
Your video is so beautiful. I love the way you got the music to match so perfectly with the unfolding tea blossom!
- Author
Thanks, billybuc! I'm glad you like the idea. Happy New Year back at you!
How very "clever." I've never heard of this but now I will give it a try. Happy New Year to you!
- Author
Thanks, North Wind! Yes, I have drank these flowering teas on my own and it's perfectly enjoyable... especially with a book and a cookie! :) But it does go the extra mile to put something so pretty yet drinkable out on the table and share with someone you care about.
I love tea and blooming tea has always been something I wanted to try. If I can, I will definitely be trying it and I don't need to have a special guest - I can exclaim about it all by myself. But you are right when you say that it is one of the perfect ways to show guests that you are going all out for them.
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