Make Blooming Tea Your Next Gift

Outside of drinking water, tea is the most ingested liquid in the world. Combining all others would only equal the power of this one beverage. Found thousands of years ago in Southern Asia, the plant spread around the world and was personalized across cultures who adopted it heartily. The beauty of tea which comes in a four main varieties: oolong, green, white, and black is that it is the result of one plant. Processing the Camellia sinensis differently has resulted in a number of different flavors or varying intensity. Whether you drink it cold, hot, with or without milk, it is most likely part of your life.

Tea leaves themselves contain over 700 chemical components from amino acids, to vitamins, to caffeine. One of the health effects of tea drinking is its role in normalizing blood pressure. While there is no scientific consensus on the health benefits of tea drinking, its use in a medical way is throughout cultures.

The simplicity and elegance of tea has lent itself to ceremonial presentation, the most famous of which is Japan’s tea ceremony. Of course, it’s also well known that the British have adopted a daily tea time elevating the drink in status. There are a number of types and flavors of tea and a number of ways in which to drink it, but the most elegant is the blooming tea, also known as the flowering tea.

Blooming tea creates a reproduction of a blooming flower when steeping in hot water and results in an exotic, almost bod flavor different from most other teas. Blooming teas are not made with oolong tea, but do use the green, white, and black varieties in conjunction with other elements.

Made by hand, these blooms are sewn with thread while damp and combined generally, with flower buds to make a more appealing presentation when blooming. These buds are what adds to the overall stronger flavor of blooming teas and are usually made with lily, hibiscus, chrysanthemum, and most often jasmine flowers.

Creating a blooming tea can take anywhere from one to ten minutes depending on the shape wanted which can vary from small to large spheres, as well as cones. Once the sewing is complete and the forms have been made, the process that follows is similar to any tea creation.

Drinking blooming tea should involve a glass tea pot, acting as a window onto the show. The tea bundle begins to unfurl when boiling water is added. The effect is that of a suspended flower bloom. These tea creations can be re-used up to three times and due to their strong and exotic flavors should not be steeped very long.

The grace and beauty of this tea makes it a unique gift for the tea lover in your life. Another idea for blooming teas would be at wedding receptions. Have a large bowl of hot water and allow your guests to drop in the small bundles to create a beautiful and fragrant centerpiece!

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