A
flowering tea, or
blooming tea (Chinese:
香片,
工艺茶, or
开花茶), is a small bundle of dried
teaTea is the agricultural product of the leaves, leaf buds, and internodes of the Camellia sinensis plant, prepared and cured by various methods...
leaves and
flowerA flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to mediate the union of male sperm with female ovum in order to produce seeds...
s bound together with cotton thread into a ball. When steeped, the bundle expands and unfurls in a process that emulates a blooming flower. Typically they are sourced from the
YunnanYunnan is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the far southwest of the country spanning approximately 394,000 square kilometers . The capital of the province is Kunming...
province of
ChinaChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
. Flowers commonly used in flowering teas include globe amaranth,
chrysanthemumChrysanthemums, often called mums, are a genus of about 30 species of perennial flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, native to Asia and northeastern Europe.-Taxonomy:...
,
jasmineJasmine is a genus of shrubs and vines in the olive family , with about 200 species, native to tropical and warm temperate regions of the Old World...
,
lilyThe genus Lilium are herbaceous flowering plants growing from bulbs. Lilies comprise a genus of about 110 species in the lily family and are important as large showy flowering garden plants...
,
hibiscusHibiscus is a genus of plants with member species often noted for their showy flowers and commonly known as hibiscus or less widely as rosemallow or flor de Jamaica. This large genus includes about 200–220 species of flowering plants in the family Malvaceae native to warm, temperate,...
, and
osmanthusOsmanthus is a genus of about 30 species of flowering plants in the family Oleaceae, mostly native to warm temperate Asia but one species in North America . It is sometimes included in Nestegis.They range in size from shrubs to small trees, 2-12 m tall...
.
It remains uncertain whether flowering tea is a relatively recent, or much older, invention.
Flowering teas are often prepared in a transparent vessel for easy viewing.
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A
flowering tea, or
blooming tea (Chinese:
香片,
工艺茶, or
开花茶), is a small bundle of dried
teaTea is the agricultural product of the leaves, leaf buds, and internodes of the Camellia sinensis plant, prepared and cured by various methods...
leaves and
flowerA flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to mediate the union of male sperm with female ovum in order to produce seeds...
s bound together with cotton thread into a ball. When steeped, the bundle expands and unfurls in a process that emulates a blooming flower. Typically they are sourced from the
YunnanYunnan is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the far southwest of the country spanning approximately 394,000 square kilometers . The capital of the province is Kunming...
province of
ChinaChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
. Flowers commonly used in flowering teas include globe amaranth,
chrysanthemumChrysanthemums, often called mums, are a genus of about 30 species of perennial flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, native to Asia and northeastern Europe.-Taxonomy:...
,
jasmineJasmine is a genus of shrubs and vines in the olive family , with about 200 species, native to tropical and warm temperate regions of the Old World...
,
lilyThe genus Lilium are herbaceous flowering plants growing from bulbs. Lilies comprise a genus of about 110 species in the lily family and are important as large showy flowering garden plants...
,
hibiscusHibiscus is a genus of plants with member species often noted for their showy flowers and commonly known as hibiscus or less widely as rosemallow or flor de Jamaica. This large genus includes about 200–220 species of flowering plants in the family Malvaceae native to warm, temperate,...
, and
osmanthusOsmanthus is a genus of about 30 species of flowering plants in the family Oleaceae, mostly native to warm temperate Asia but one species in North America . It is sometimes included in Nestegis.They range in size from shrubs to small trees, 2-12 m tall...
.
It remains uncertain whether flowering tea is a relatively recent, or much older, invention.
Flowering teas are often prepared in a transparent vessel for easy viewing. They can be refreshed several times by adding more water as needed, from 5 to 15 times depending on the variety. Flowering teas are fragrant, aromatic teas that do not tend to get bitter with extended steeping.