Thanks to the striking blooming tea, you can now have a nutritionally potent beverage that is also aesthetically appealing. Native to China, blooming tea is a flowering tea that combines the health benefits of green tea and the appeal of a flower in bloom to create a striking beverage.
The blending of tea leaves and flowers into a tea ball that blooms when placed in hot water creates the aptly named blooming tea. Easy on the eyes, fragrant and refreshing, this unique beverage is becoming a preferred option for many tea drinkers.
Table of Contents
What is Blooming Tea?
Blooming tea is an intricate blend of tea leaves and flowers. To make blooming tea, green tea leaves are artfully hand-woven around dried flowers. Flowers such as jasmine, lily, chrysanthemum or rose are combined with the tea leaves to form a spherical ball. Once this blended tea ball is immersed in hot water, it unfurls to form a flower.
Blooming tea may contain a single flower or a blend of multiple flowers within the sphere that makes up the tea ball. However, not all types of blooming tea balls have a flower inside the sphere. Some varieties of blooming tea are just made from artfully arranged tea leaves that similarly bloom into a different shape when immersed in hot water.
Blooming tea is striking in appearance and a big part of its appeal to tea drinkers is in its aesthetic properties. To appreciate the striking and dramatic appearance of blooming tea, it is typically served and brewed in glass vessels.
Blooming Tea Nutrition Facts
Blooming tea is not all about aesthetic appeal, this striking beverage is a nutritional powerhouse packed with catechins, amino acids, antioxidants, and flavonoids. Apart from these beneficial compounds derived from green tea leaves, the flowers used in blooming tea also infuse the beverage with their organic compounds and healthy nutrients. Blooming tea also contains caffeine from green tea leaves which gives it a stimulatory effect.
The green tea leaves in blooming tea are rich in phenols as well as the amino acid theanine which acts as a mild tranquilizer.
Blooming Tea Taste
Blooming tea is typically mild-flavored and tends to have hints of the flower used in the making of the blooming tea. For instance, if the tea ball is made by placing a jasmine flower at the center of the tea ball and covering it with green tea leaves, the resulting brew will have a jasmine scent and flavor. This principle also applies to other varieties of blooming tea made using other flowers such as rose, lily or chrysanthemum.
Flowers Used in Blooming Tea
Blooming tea is made from combining tea leaves and dried flowers. There are flowers that are popularly used in making blooming tea because their flavor complements the tea leaves making a refreshing beverage filled with nutritious benefits from both the flower and the tea leaves.
Some of the flowers used in making different types of blooming teas are lily, jasmine, rose, marigold, carnations, and chrysanthemums.
In its native China, blooming tea is made using flowers such as peach flowers, osmanthus, honeysuckle, and lavender. Typically these flowers will be combined with other ingredients to enhance the flavor of the blooming tea.
Health Benefits of Blooming Tea
Antioxidant Benefits
The antioxidant properties of blooming tea can be attributed to the flavonoids and catechins present in the green tea leaves. Antioxidants have anti-inflammatory actions in the body and aid in regulating inflammatory conditions.
By eliminating free radicals in the body, the antioxidants in blooming tea, prevent oxidative stress and accumulation of toxins in the body. These actions of antioxidants in the body boost the immune system making blooming tea a healthy beverage that increases the body’s ability to safeguard itself from infections.
Weight Loss
When it comes to weight loss, identifying the right beverages to include in your diet can be daunting. Blooming tea is ideal for people working on losing weight. Blooming tea is low in calories and has a beneficial effect on metabolism in the body.
Metabolic processes in the body are responsible for the fat-burning process that converts calories into energy. Blooming tea is effective in boosting metabolism in the body, which in turn results in a faster rate of fat burning. In this way blooming tea facilitates weight loss.
Caffeine is one of the natural compounds present in blooming tea. The caffeine content in blooming tea is effective in mobilizing amino acids for use as energy in the body. These amino acids are generated during the metabolism or breakdown of fat in the body. The more efficiently the amino acids are used up, the more fats are broken down to produce more amino acids.
Good for Cardiovascular Health
The green tea in blooming tea effective lowers levels of bad cholesterol in the body. When LDL cholesterol levels in the body, it can cause the buildup of plaque in the blood vessels resulting in heart disease. The activity of blooming tea in lowering triglycerides and LDL cholesterol makes it a heart-friendly beverage.
Lower the Risk of Cancer
Cancer results from abnormal cell activity when there is uncontrolled multiplication and growth of cells. The anti-mutagenic effects of the green tea leaves contained in blooming tea make it a healthy beverage that can lower the risk of cancers such as breast cancer and colon cancer. The antioxidants in blooming tea also contribute to its anti-cancer properties since they effectively inhibit abnormal cell growth.
Reduce Anxiety
We all know that a cup of tea is a great way to unwind and blooming tea is right up there with the most relaxing types of teas. Amino acids such as theanine which are present in blooming tea give it the tranquilizing effect that helps in calming and soothing the body. A cup of blooming tea when you are feeling stressed will help in bringing down the stress levels.
Great for Skin
The skin is not only the largest body organ, but it is also one of the first sites where signs of aging are most visible. Wrinkles, sun damage and age spots are all signs of aging that occur when free radicals accumulate in the body or when our skin gets damaged by UV rays.
Blooming tea, being rich in antioxidants and phenolic compounds, boosts cell renewal and prevents the breakdown of collagen resulting in healthier and younger looking skin. Having a cup of blooming tea regularly will improve your skin’s appearance and helps protect you from sun damage.
Dental Health Benefit
One of the components of blooming tea is green tea which contains catechins. These catechins have antimicrobial properties meaning that when you drink blooming tea it lowers bacterial activity in your mouth. By inhibiting microbial activity, blooming tea effectively helps in combating dental issues such as cavities and bad breath.
How To Brew Blooming Tea
Apart from its health benefits, the striking appearance of blooming tea is one of its selling points. To fully enjoy your blooming tea, consider brewing and serving your tea using glass vessels so that you can entice both your visual and taste senses.
Flowering teas such as blooming tea tend to have a mild flavor and can, therefore, be steeped in boiling water to get the maximum flavor out of the blooming tea ball. Most blooming tea varieties will come with directions on how best to brew on the package. The following recipe can serve as a general guideline when brewing your blooming tea.
Simple Blooming Tea Recipe
Materials
Blooming tea ball, water, glass teapot or tall glass
Steps
- Step 1: Boil 2 cups of water.
- Step 2: Pour the water into your glass teapot or tall glass.
- Step 3: Drop the blooming tea ball into the water.
- Step 4: The blooming tea ball should unfurl once it is in the hot water to form a flower.
- Step 5: Let the blooming tea ball steep in the hot water for at least five minutes.
- Step 6: Enjoy your glass of blooming tea.
Blooming tea can be enjoyed either piping hot or as an iced tea. For iced tea, let the brew cool completely after steeping it in hot water. Remember that the hot water is necessary for the blooming tea ball to unfurl or bloom so you cannot put it directly into cold water.
Reusing Flower Tea Balls
Blooming tea balls can be used more than once to brew your tea. After brewing your first batch, of blooming tea, you can still use the same tea ball to make a second or even third batch of blooming tea. To ensure that you still get the rich flavor and fragrance of the blooming tea, it is best to reuse the flower tea ball within 24 hours of the first use.
Side Effects of Blooming Tea
Like most teas, blooming tea is perfectly safe for most people with few to no side effects. Always consume in moderation to avoid irritating your stomach. It is important to note that this type of tea does contain caffeine, so it is not recommended for people who are caffeine-sensitive or as a bedtime beverage.
Blooming tea is made by combining green tea leaves and a flower to make the tea ball that is used in brewing the tea. Some people may be allergic to particular flowers and for this reason, It is important to know which flower has been used in a particular brand of blooming tea before you purchase.
All varieties of blooming tea will have clearly indicated on the packaging which particular flower was used in making the blooming tea.
Conclusion
Blooming tea has been a popular beverage in China for many years. It is quickly becoming a popular beverage for both novice and avid tea drinkers. It is not every day that you will come across a beverage that has both aesthetic appeal and multiple health benefits.
Discovering new and innovative varieties of tea such as blooming tea enriches the tea culture. This tea creates a refreshing option for people who want a healthy beverage that contains all the nutritional benefits of green tea and the beauty of a flower.
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