tea flowers « Art and Tea

Good morning, dear tea friends! My morning tea today is an infusion from the Camellia Sinensis plant, however, it is not from its leaf but from its beautiful white flower.

Franz Eugen Köhler, Köhler’s Medizinal-Pflanzen

These tea flowers are from Nepal, plucked from tea bushes in full bloom and then sun dried. The blooms turn yellow as they dry.

I steeped the dried flowers for 8 minutes in boiling point (212F) water. As I lifted the infuser from my glass teapot, I was greeted by the scent of honey and flowers.

The golden liquor tastes quite sweet with notes of buttered corn and honey. I also detected faint nuances of caramel and citrus fruit.

Tea flowers do contain caffeine, about 1/4 of what is found in the leaf, making them a perfect choice for caffeine sensitive tea lovers. The infusion is full of flavor yet mellow and soothing, a great before bedtime beverage.

I’m loving that blue sky reflection in my teabowl. We got another 20 inches of snow dumped on us yesterday but spring is right around the corner (we hope!) and the melting has already started.

If you ever get a chance to try a cup of infused tea flowers, I highly recommend it. Have a great week!

“Arthur blinked at the screens and felt he was missing something important. Suddenly he realized what it was.

“Is there any tea on this spaceship?” he asked.”

~Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

Ah, the first day of May. I think it’s one of the loveliest months of the year here in New England. Everything is bursting with new growth and blooms, a color feast for the senses wherever you look. In honor of May, I am sipping the infusion of the tea flower. Not the tea leaf as I usually do but the flower itself of the tea plant, camellia sinensis.

The flowers are white but turn a golden yellow when they are sundried after picking. They do contain caffeine but it is much less than the leaf, making them a perfect choice for caffeine sensitive tea lovers.

The infusion steeps to a light golden color, much like the dry flowers. The aroma is honey sweet with a faint whisper of apple.

The flavor is quite sweet and lightly floral with hints of caramel. A wonderful refresher for any time of the day, hot or iced.

I’m enjoying my tea flowers in my newest teabowl. I wrote about it here. I love to drink lightly colored infusions in it so I can see the wonderful spiral on the inside of the bowl.

This weekend I am dusting off and pulling on my garden overalls and see what can be done in my new little yard. Perhaps a small grouping of colorful blooms here and there to lift my heart everytime I return home.

“All my life through, the new sights of nature made me rejoice like a child.” ~Marie Curie