Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Dragon Tea House
Tea Description:
A delicate flower blooms inside this ball tea just before tiny flowers slowly cascade upward like Champagne bubbles. The flowers add their enlivening fragrance and strong taste to this delectably smooth green tea. Our Ball offers one of the most artful spectacles in tea. This blooming tea has an original shape of an tiny ball and when put in boiling water a bouquet of tea leaves and flower. The aromas of both flowers and tea leaves are very well preserved and these exceptional teas develop a wonderful flavor and create at the same time a beautiful “table decoration”.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Every once in a while, I like to take a moment to simply watch a tea steep. There is something so wonderfully relaxing about it. I think my favorite teas to watch steep are blooming teas, like this Love Game Flowering Tea from Dragon Tea House. I like blooming teas because they open slowly, taking their time to reveal their splendor, and when they’ve finally fully unfurled, what a breathtaking display!
I infused this tea for six full minutes in 180°F water, and it still had not opened fully … which means MORE INFUSIONS! Yay! This first cup is tasty. The mouthfeel is soft and silky. The taste is sweet and floral with notes of jasmine, and a slight nutty flavor. It is very smooth tasting, with very little astringency and no bitterness.
For my second infusion, I set the timer for ten minutes, although it had fully unfurled after about 90 seconds (taking seven and a half minutes total to completely open), but I infused it for the full ten minutes to achieve full flavor for the infusion, and that ten minutes delivered! The second infusion was even tastier than the first. The flavor is more focused on the nutty flavors, with hints of jasmine, and a sweet, fresh, slightly grassy tone.
Overall, a very pleasant experience!
Love Goddess Flowering Tea from Dragon Tea House
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green (Flowering)
Where to Buy: Dragon Tea House
Tea Description:
A delicate flower blooms inside this ball tea just before tiny flowers slowly cascade upward like Champagne bubbles. The flowers add their enlivening fragrance and strong taste to this delectably smooth green tea. Our Ball offers one of the most artful spectacles in tea. This blooming tea has an original shape of an tiny ball and when put in boiling water a bouquet of tea leaves and flower. The aromas of both flowers and tea leaves are very well preserved and these exceptional teas develop a wonderful flavor and create at the same time a beautiful “table decoration”.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This tea is really beautiful, and I am thrilled at how quickly the leaves opened to reveal the display of flowers inside. Sometimes, with blossoming teas like this, it takes two or sometimes even three infusions before the tea bulb fully opens, but, I got a beautiful show after steeping for just four minutes.
The flavor is a little less impressive. It tastes alright, don’t get me wrong, and I was able to drink not just the first cup but a second infusion as well, and I enjoyed them both.
This has a stronger green tea taste than some of the other blooming teas, and that may have something to do with it. It has a stronger vegetal taste, and a very faint jasmine note. It’s pleasant enough, and as I continued to drink, a soft buttery tone developed that I liked.
While these pictures are really lovely, I have to say that I think it’s even more breathtaking in person. If you’ve not yet brewed a blooming tea, what are you waiting for? You should get yourself a glass teapot or mug, and try some blooming teas! I have a mug with a glass infuser, which makes it very easy to enjoy the unfurling of the leaves, the finished display, and it is also very easy to remove the tea from the mug to enjoy the tea. I don’t drink blooming teas very often, I would say that I try to have one at least once a week, if for no other reason than the release of stress that I get from watching the unfurling process.
And while this isn’t my favorite blooming tea that I’ve ever had, I will say that I’m really impressed with Dragon Tea House’s vast selection of teas, including some Yellow teas. Fair prices too!
Jasmine Fairy Blooming Tea from Alice’s Fine Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White (Blooming Tea)
Where to Buy: Alice’s Fine Teas
Tea Description:
Our Jasmine Fairy starts out as a ‘mushroom’ shape ball. White jasmine and beautiful lily hide inside the silver needle tea. Pouring boiled water causes the red lily petals to rise up trying to follow the white jasmine dancing light-footed like a fairy flying in the sky. This fragrant tea tastes smooth and sweet. Ingredients: Jasmine (sweet fragrance, said to moisten the skin, ease anxiety and anti-inflammatory), Lily (said to enhance energy and to have a cooling effect), Silver Needle Tea
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
It’s been a while since I’ve had a blooming tea, so I decided that now was the time. I have really enjoyed the blooming teas that Alice’s Fine Teas offers, so I was pretty confident I’d enjoy this one too.
After steeping for six minutes in 175°F water, the bloom was open, but, I fear that my glass cup was not quite tall enough to see the full effect of the white floral extension (as shown in the photo above). To the right, you’ll see what the bloom appeared like with a slightly shorter glass. Still beautiful, even though the extension was not fully visible.
But even more important (at least to me) is the flavor of the tea, and I am not at all disappointed with the flavor of this blooming tea. It is light, sweet, and even a little creamy! The floral notes are present but in keeping with the overall lightness of the tea, and they do not overwhelm the flavor of the silver needle tea.
The floral is not entirely jasmine here, as I can taste the lily flavor too. I like that even though it is a combination of flowery flavors, it doesn’t taste like perfume or soap. It tastes more like … spring. Like the freshness of spring: crisp air, full of life as the flowers begin to bloom after winter’s frosty chill.
A very fun and delicious tea!