BEAUTIFUL ARTISAN TEA LEAVES NOW

As we celebrate the beauty of leaves this week, as they change all around us, rotating through their vibrant color phases and life cycles, the chill in the air tempts us to consider the beauty of tea leaves.

We steep a pot of delicate Blooming Tea to fortify us against the demands of the Autumn afternoon and assemble a collection of the most beautiful tea plantations and the most beautiful teas to enjoy.

Prepare to get cozy. Prepare to have all of your senses summoned and pleased.

BLOOMING TEAS

We love to indulge in Blooming Teas. Sometimes called “Flower Tea,” these artisan teas are crafted by gathering and hand-tying tea leaves into balls, which, when steeped in hot water, bloom into lush translucent blossoms. They are a delight to see. The aroma is divine. And the taste is delicately complex.

They are made of long tender “spring-picked” high-grade white tea leaves, handsewn -- sometimes together with real flowers.

Black Chrysanthemum: This unique tea is made from long black tea leaves hand-tied together around a chrysanthemum flower. It steeps up smooth with a sweet floral note.

When the outer leaves of this Yellow Flower Burst Tea Flower swell open to reveal, they uncover inner layers of Pale Yellow and Chrysanthemum flowers.

Each of these beautiful Immortal Peach Hand Tied Jasmine Green Flowers unfurls to further reveal a red clover flower.

While Chrysanthemums are the most popular Blooming Tea flowers, red clover, jasmine, globe amaranth, and lily blossoms are also used for traditional Blooming Teas. 

Sometimes the Blooming Flower Teas are embellished with more layers of flavor, like the light fruity essence of Strawberry Misaki Blooming Tea from Teavana.

Use a glass vessel when you drink Blooming Teas so you can see them in their full regalia as they open up. If you are careful, you can even enjoy them in a wine goblet.

RARE TEAS

From Silver Needle White, to Dragon Well, treat yourself to some of the rarest of teas.

The rare downy leaves of Silver Needle White Tea, reserved for the Chinese Imperial family for many centuries, is only harvested two days each year.

The leaves steep to produce a delicate, almost silky sip.

Dragon Well or Longjing tea is a rare pan-roasted green tea grown just outside the Longjing Village near Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province,China.

She Qian Dragon Well comes from Tianmu Mountain in Zhejiang, China.

For those who prefer the taste of Spring breeze, She Qian Dragon Well wins over Ming Qian because it is picked earlier than Ming Qian and the leaves are of much higher grade.

The delicacy, complexity and nuance of exceptional teas can soak into your memory and trigger total sensory recall of your experiences in drinking them. As Fuchsia Dunlop shares in “Memories of Hangzhou.” (see below)

From Fuschia Dunlop’s Memories of Hangzhou:

On my last day in Hangzhou, a friend arrived at my hotel with some of that most precious of commodities – new season West Lake Longjing (Dragon Well) tea. They were some of the first leaves of the season, so new that they were not yet available on the market. I could lose myself in the scent of these delicate spear-like leaves.

It is magical: green and gently intoxicating, reminiscent of fresh pistachios. Back in London, their aroma is even more thrilling, because it takes me back in an instant to the shores of the West Lake, to its soft contours of willow and peach, to the sound of the waters lapping.

At home in London, I infuse the leaves in some hand-painted tea bowls (gai wan), the water not too hot, inhale their gentle vapours, and sigh.

Check out more beautiful tea leaves in our post this coming Saturday. We will feature a set of stunning tea plantations you can visit now.

Read more about Beautiful Leaves, as they relate to Arts/Design, Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Place/Time, Mind/Body, and Soul/Impact including Contemplating Leaves Now and Good, Good, Good, Leaf Vibrations Now.

Enter your own images and ideas about Beautiful Leaves in this week’s creative Photo Competition. Open for entries now until 11:59 p.m. PT on 10.26.14. If you are reading this after that date, check out the current BN Creative Competition, and enter!

PHOTO CREDITS:

1. Photo: Courtesy of Alibaba. Artistic Flower Tea.
2. Photo: Courtesy of Tea Time. Blooming Tea.
3. Photo: by Mario De Carli. Blooming Tea.
4. Photo: Courtesy of The Raw Deal. Black Chrysanthemum Tea.
5. Photo: Courtesy of Tea and Coffee. Yellow Flower Burst Tea Flower.
6. Photo: Courtesy of Breakfast at Stefanies. Immortal Peach Hand Tied Jasmine Green Tea.
7. Photo: by HLKJIGK. Flowering Tea.
8. Photo: Courtesy of Honeysuckle Life. Strawberry Misaki Blooming Tea.
9. Photo: Courtesy of Wanling Tea House. Blooming Artisan Tea.
10. Photo: Courtesy of Teavana. Silver Needle White Tea.
11. Photo: Courtesy of Teavivre. She Qian Dragon Well.
12. Photo: by Gerry Tuchodi. Dragon Well Green Tea.
13. Photo: by Fuchsia Dunlop. Dragon Well Tea.
14. Photo: Courtesy of Yezi Tea. Dragon Well Green Tea.
15. Photo: Courtesy of At Tea Time. Dragon Well Green Tea.
16. Photo: Courtesy of Beleave Teas. Blooming Jasmine.