Blossoming Tea

Blooming teas, Display teas, Art Teas, and of course Blossoming teas, are all names for the same processing technique for producing a tea that is as much about fine tea drinking as it is about artful showmanship. These small balls of tea, the size of a large chestnut, begin with carefully picked buds containing the unopened bud and the small adjoined tea leaf, both glistening green and covered with white downy hairs. The flowers used in the tea blossoms are also picked young and fresh so the flavors are delicate and strong and the shape unbroken and undamaged. The leaves and flowers are then tied together by skilled tea artists in order to achieve a uniform flower and tea arrangement for each blossom. The final balls of tied tea leaves and flowers are then individually formed and dried. Once they are placed in hot water the delicate skilled artistry of the tea-maker is revealed as the flowers and tea leaves open up and blossom.