February 09, 2005
bee-yoo-tea-ful flowers
Sorry for the lack of posts, people -- it's been really busy. Oy.
tallasiandude has returned from China, and he has brought with him a bunch of magical teas which come in the shape of little walnut-sized balls. The tea itself is delightfully fragrant and delicious, and just sniffing the hot steam as it steeps is pleasure enough. However, the magic comes when hot water is added to a ball, and it unfolds into a spiky green starburst with a flower in the middle, sometimes jasmine, sometimes other flowers. The one last night turned out to be a red globe amaranth, a decorative flower my mom used to grow for dried arrangements. And the starburst is formed by tying long tea leaves together with a string, with the wee flower in the center captured into the bundle so that the flower sits atop the cut ends of the leaves. Then the leaves are wrapped down and around the flower, hiding it and forming the tight little ball of tea. Very clever, and a joy for all the senses.
so pretty! i saw these for sale but they were a little pricey here. i was wondering, how's the taste?
Posted by: santos at February 10, 2005 07:42 AMthey taste great. the smell alone is intoxicatingly delicate. we've been drinking ours very weak, putting one flower ball into the pot, but that is because we've been indulging at night. even weak, it's lovely. Since tallasiandude bought his in China, the price wasn't really a problem, but I imagine they might well be prohibitively spendy elsewhere. Nice as a special gift, though, i guess...
Posted by: foodnerd at February 15, 2005 03:30 PMWhere can I buy this????
Posted by: Jean at September 25, 2005 11:15 PMhttp://www.theteahaus.com/Teas/Green/JasmineBall.htm
or at this restaurant in london at £1.50 each
http://www.pingpongdimsum.com/taste.php
please please tell me if ayone find them elsewhere cheaper!!!
Posted by: Joanna at September 28, 2005 06:01 AMHello,
I have a news service about flower customs around the world and today, researching flowerball teas, came upon and linked to your terrific post.
http://www.humanflowerproject.com/index.php/weblog/flowerball_teas/
All good wishes,
Julie
We are so on the same wavelength. I purchased these the very same day you wrote about them (ha ! and a year later). I fortuitously found them and will send them away as part of my Valentine's offering of love to all my sweethearts. If ever a tea ball could be a ritual of love this certainly is the one.
I sip as I write and the show was fabulously sweet. !
If synchronicity points the way we are surely on the right path.
Well done Julie and perfect timing in a multidimensional sort of way. :)
By the way not at all prohibitively expensive I paid just over two dollars each and what's two dollars for this kind of love fest.
hrm
Posted by: abby lincoln at February 12, 2006 06:55 PMCool, more & more people respect on real good tea. I first saw this kind of tea in Taiwan 2 years ago & found those tea are truley impressive! I'm not posting an ads here but just like to share this with all tea friends around.
Come & see, http://www.my-cup-of-tea.com
Posted by: Kenny at March 17, 2006 01:17 PMI had to get information for this in grade 8 for aissginment thanks for posting this.
Posted by: bob at September 3, 2009 10:10 AM