Spring is in full bloom, and a warm cup of floral tea is a delicious way to embrace the season. If you have yet to foray into floral teas, no worries – we’ll be your guide. We’re covering some of the most common types of floral tea and recommending a few of our favorites to help you find your perfect spring tea ritual.
Jasmine tea has been consumed for centuries in China. While it can be prepared as a floral tisane (a “tea” that is made with only herbs or flowers instead of tea leaves), it’s more commonly enjoyed as an addition to green teas. Its light, sweet taste and pleasant fragrance make it a perfect flavor enhancer for the grassy, vegetal notes of green teas.
Rose petals, buds, and hips are all used to make and flavor teas. Pure rosehip tea is prized for its high vitamin C and antioxidant content, while dried petals and rose extracts/ oils are used to flavor tea blends. While you can find rose blended into all types of teas, it’s most commonly added to black teas since its strong floral flavor can easily overpower green and light oolong teas.
Like rose, hibiscus offers a strong floral flavor that blends well with other dried flowers and teas. Hibiscus is also enjoyed on its own as a tart, fruity, and antioxidant-packed tisane with a beautiful red hue.
Chamomile is the most common floral tea, at least in the West, and is readily available in nearly every supermarket. While it’s well-known as a relaxing bedtime tea, chamomile’s notes of apple and honey makes a lovely addition to other tea blends.
Love the scent of lavender? You’ll probably love lavender teas just as much. Because of its reputation as a calming herb, you’ll often find lavender in caffeine-free herbal teas, though it pairs nicely with other teas, as well.
If you are interested in a beautiful, floral tea experience that photographs just as well as it tastes, try The Qi’s line of blooming flower teas. Rather than a blend of fine tea leaves and herbs, one whole, single flower (choose from Shangri-La Rose, Royal Chrysanthemum, and Blue Lotus) is dropped into hot water for an eye-catching experience.
Whatever blend of tea and flowers suits your palate, you can preserve those delicate flavors by keeping them warm in your Ember Mug². A lower drinking temperature of around 125°F allows you to appreciate the subtler flavors of jasmine and chamomile, while the stronger flavors of rose, hibiscus, and lavender will shine through even at higher temperatures.