Our Blossoms green tea

About Blossoming Tea

The production of Blossoming Tea starts in the early spring. Farmers make sure to handpick tea buds quite early (mid-march or beginning of April) as they are still young and unopened. This preserves the unopened bud and the tealeaf inside of it, which is shiny green, covered with white velvety hairs.

Subsequently, the leaves go through the selection process. Only the finest whole leaves and buds make it through. The unselected ones are further processed and destined to a lower grade of export teas.

The destiny of the selected leaves varies depending on their purpose. Some immediately go to the blossom artists, but most go to another branch of the farm in order to be scented with flowers like Jasmine, Osmanthus and Chrysanthemum. In order to do so, these leaves are stacked with the flowers for days in layers. Afterwards, the leaves are finally hand-tied into small tea blossoms.

The flowers that the blossoms contain are also handpicked when they are young and fresh. This aims to preserve their delicate flavors and their precious shape. The very last process sees leaves and flowers tied together by expert tea artists.

Our Blossoms' Green Tea
Each blossom is a careful combination of a flower and the specific kind of green tea that most enhance its taste. The kinds of Green Teas used to produce our blossoms are Camellia Sinensis, Camellia Assamese, Anhui Green Tea (Huangshan Mao Feng) and Silver Needle Green Tea.

Camellia

Camellia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Theaceae, native to eastern and southern Asia, which is parent to many other kinds of teas. There are two main varieties of Camellia green tea, Camellia Assamese and Camellia Sinensis. The Latin name of Sinensis means Chinese. This particular green tea is hard to describe in taste, some say that itÕs just ÒgreenÓ. The Assamese variety is a lowland plant that requires a high rainfall but good drainage and that does not tolerate extreme temperatures. The tea produces a small White Blossom from its dark, shiny leaves.

Anhui Green Tea

Anhui Province is home to Mao Feng Green Tea. The province is 60 % covered with mountains and has a subtropical climate, which is perfect for this particular tea growth. Mao Feng Green Tea grows in Mount Huangshan, which is listed as a World Natural and Cultural Heritage. Mao Feng grows at an altitude of over 700 meters (2,200 feet) where there are cliffs piercing into clouds. The mountain is characterized by an incredibly fertile soil, abundant rain and a short period of direct sunshine. The numerous growing orchids lend a magnolia-like fragrance to tea plants. In such surroundings, the tea buds grow big and strong. Mao Feng tea is distinguished for its rich and sweet taste, which is also somewhat nutty with a fresh floral fragrance. A very high quality of green tea distinguishes blossoms made out of Mao Feng tea, which is plucked at a very young stage. Its leaves are yellowish, flat, with a very slight upturn and covered with silvery hair. Expert tea drinkers have a saying about Huangshan Maofeng: 'the first cup is fragrant, the second sweeter, the third stronger.'

Silver Needle green tea (Yin Zhen) - White Tea

White tea is the speciality of the province of Fujian. Several of our Blossoms are made of this particular white tea, which is considered one of the rarest of all Chinese teas and one of the finest on earth. Only the finest leaves are plucked in their pre-open phase and then manufactured with a very short fermentation time and a long, slow drying process. This usually takes more than 3 days to finish, as there are 8 processing stages. The very best Silver Needle Green Teas are picked between March 15 and April 10, when it does not rain. This provides a high quality, undamaged and unopened buds. Silver Needle Green Tea has a sweet vegetal and slightly nutty flavour.

Health

In China, green tea has been valued for its therapeutic effects for 4’000 years. Recent research proves that it has a restorative effect on a number of health conditions, including hypertension, bad circulation, cholesterol and diabetes. It also appears to have positive influence on brain, kidneys and skin and it was proved to have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-viral and anti-bacterial qualities. Green tea is also appreciated for its ability to lower blood sugar and control the production of nitric oxide.

The Journal of National Cancer Institution asserts that by drinking green tea the possibility of oesophageal cancer is reduced by 6%. All this extraordinary green tea qualities are due to its richness of substances such as Catechin Polyphenols and Epigallocatechin Gallate (EGCG). In simple terms, green tea helps the body to fight viruses and improves the immune system. This ancient beverage seems to be custom-made to protect health and delay ageing!