Sugar Buds: Oxidized Tea Flowers

Tea: Tea Flowers (Cha'hua - 茶花)
Harvest: December 2024
Region: Hefeng, Hubei, China
Producers: One River Tea & Loushuiyuan
Tasting Notes: Artificial Strawberry, Pine Sap, Dandelion.

A potent floral treat to sweeten your cup. In the past we have tried to simple sun-drying, fireside roasting, and oven baking, but always ended up with tea flowers that tended to be flatter and sharper than one would hope from such a sweet smelling flower. Whereas flowers like that can work well as an ornamental addition to green tea or an extra kick for pressed white tea, the flowers this year are made for center stage.

Just three of these flowers can start to overwhelm the aroma of whatever tea it is brewed together with. No more than that amount would be needed to pleasantly augment whatever you are drinking. If enjoyed on their own, 1-2 grams of these would more than suffice for a 150 ml vessel. Taken alone, the uniquely thick syrupy broth and full range of floral and fruity notes can be appreciated.

Inspired by new research from Yunnan and Anhui, these flowers are our contribution to the work being done to help tea flowers grow out of being a superfluous curio. Piling the flowers with a hot airflow for 24 hours before baking has made a world of difference. We invite you to taste that difference.