Blooming Tea

Blooming tea, also called flowering or artisan tea, is an ornamental type of tea made by tying a small bundle of tea leaves and flowers together with cotton thread into a ball. When steeped in water the bundle unfurls in a process like that of a flower coming into bloom. Jasmine flowers are the most common but globe amaranth, chrysanthemum, lily, hibiscus and osmanthus are also used. They are generally steeped in a glass vessel so that the process can be viewed and are a speciality of the Yunnan province of China where they are always hand made by specialist artisans.