Chinese Flower Tea

Hello Friends,

Today we'll be talking about teas infused with leaves, flowers, and berries. In China, it is popular practice to place these items in tea to not only flavor the tea, but to make it more pleasing to the eye. In fact, teas that are aesthetic in appearance are more expensive than teas that actually taste good. The more the items dance in the teapot and/or stay parallel to the pot during infusion, the more expensive the tea is even if it tastes bad. The same goes for visually pleasing colors and shapes the tea transforms into. What buyers are purchasing is not just a tea to drink, but a visual show.

We purchased several floral teas and decided to try the Green Tea with Acai Berry first. The tea came in the form of a little pod tied up. The packaging shows what each tea pod is suppose to look like when finished.

We placed the pod in a clear teapot so we could see the flower bloom. Hot water was added and the tea pod slowly began to open and float to the bottom.

It took the pod about 10 minutes to turn the water a nice amber color and to fully open up. It stayed in the center for the most part and lowered in the teapot as it opened. Much like the practice in China, the tea did not taste that great, but it sure did look pretty. It was fun to watch too!

 

Hope you enjoyed,

Tilly