I was one of the lucky requesters to get a sample of this tea from JK Tea Shop’s offer — I’d never had chrysanthemum tea before, but I was intrigued by the concept.
The scent of the dry leaves was…odd. Definitely floral, but not floral the way any other tea I’ve ever had has been. Heavier somehow. I put eight flowers and a small shake of loose petals into a pot, and steeping it was the same scent even stronger. The color was a pale virulent green which wouldn’t be amiss at a mad scientists’ cocktail party!
So I sipped cautiously, and it’s amazing! It tastes just like it smells, and while I still have no idea what that taste is, I can now tell that it’s juicy and extraordinarily sweet. It’s not cloying, but it’s just this side of it — I can’t imagine putting more sweetener in! And it leaves behind a plainer, less confusing aftertaste that’s just sweet and sweet and sweet. I had to go make a second cup right away after finishing the first! (Second cup came out just like the first; I’m not tasting any change at all for the second steeping.)
The flowers were a lot smaller and paler than I expected: I think I was picturing something like an American Black-Eyed Susan flower in a dark purple, but these were about half that size and nearly white. So I have a lot more left than I expected! This is a very generously-sized sample packet.
Flowers steeping in the pot:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cait_tea/4523798781/in/set-72157623664718933/
Preparation
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What a pretty tea! My local Vietnamese restaurant serves chrysanthemum tea and I really enjoyed it. I will defintely add this to my shopping list…
I almost want to brew it stronger just so I can have more flowers floating in the pot! It’s very pretty indeed.
Ok now I’m really curious to try this.
Thanks you guys like it. Actually, the floral aroma is totally different from any other chrysanthemum flower tea from China, which is yellow in dry tea color and mild in dry tea aroma. Its dry tea floral arom is delicate, sharp, long-lasting, wild natural and high mountain aroma.
The interesting thing is, after many times brewing, its aroma still exists there. Super for us to drink in summer to balance our interior heat and cold based on traditional Chinese medicine point of view.
Beautiful photo of the flower steeping. Wow.
Thank you, teaddict!
What a pretty tea! My local Vietnamese restaurant serves chrysanthemum tea and I really enjoyed it. I will defintely add this to my shopping list…
I almost want to brew it stronger just so I can have more flowers floating in the pot! It’s very pretty indeed.
Ok now I’m really curious to try this.
Thanks you guys like it. Actually, the floral aroma is totally different from any other chrysanthemum flower tea from China, which is yellow in dry tea color and mild in dry tea aroma. Its dry tea floral arom is delicate, sharp, long-lasting, wild natural and high mountain aroma.
The interesting thing is, after many times brewing, its aroma still exists there. Super for us to drink in summer to balance our interior heat and cold based on traditional Chinese medicine point of view.
Beautiful photo of the flower steeping. Wow.
Thank you, teaddict!