Blooming Tea Make A Great Gift
February 22nd, 2010 at 22:15Camellia sinesis is a plant with its origins in southern Asia. While the name may not ring a bell it is the plant in which all teas are made. Whether black, white, green, or ooling the tea plant produces them all through specific processing. Tea is the most drunk man-made drink on the planet and makes a great tea gifts for friends. This beverage has traveled from Asia all over the world and across many cultures who have adopted it as an important part of society.
This amazing plant contains just over 700 components that can effect our internal systems, either from the naturally occurring caffeine or inherent vitamins. The health benefits of tea have been touted by cultures all over the world, especially within ancient Chinese medicine which prescribed it to help with blood pressure. This effect has been validated medically.
The simplicity and elegance of tea has lent itself to ceremonial presentation, the most famous of which is Japan’s tea ceremony. Of course, it’s also well known that the British have adopted a daily tea time elevating the drink in status. There are a number of types and flavors of tea and a number of ways in which to drink it, but the most elegant is the blooming tea, also known as the flowering tea.
Blooming tea is an event in and of itself. The addition of this bundle of tea to boiling water is a ballet of unfurling leaves and blossoms which impart a strong flavor when brewed.
Made by hand, these blooms are sewn with thread while damp and combined generally, with flower buds to make a more appealing presentation when blooming. These buds are what adds to the overall stronger flavor of blooming teas and are usually made with lily, hibiscus, chrysanthemum, and most often jasmine flowers.
The construction of these bundles is short in time, about one minute for simpler designs. More elaborate blooms can take up to ten minutes to create. Once the right shape has been made be it a ball or cone, they are dried through the usual avenues.
Using a glass pot, blooming tea interacts with boiling water by gently unfurling itself and turning into a bloom of tea and flowers that is colorful and fragrant. Because of the intensity of this type of tea, steeping should not be longer than 3 minutes. The good news is that blooming tea can be used 2 to 3 times before having to be thrown out.
Tea is at once a simple and egalitarian beverage that can imbue any situation with grace. As a gift, blooming teas offer an experience head and shoulders above the standard loose or bagged tea variety baskets.
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