295397 Thu Dec 18 09:58:11 -0800 2003 11 27 General Chowhounding Topics 0 1623384 I just read about display or blooming teas, a new one on me. Green tea in little one-pot bunches, bundled to bloom into a decorative shape when hot water is added -- like a slow-motion firework I guess. According to the blurb in my local newspaper it should steep for 20 to 30 minutes, and then you can add more water as you drink, "making more tea from the same pod throughout the day." I think this might be a great present for someone on my list. Does anyone have more information, or any tips? I am unfamiliar with green tea -- can you really work it all day like that? It takes twenty minutes to steep? Also, any suggestions on a vessel for serving it? Thu Dec 18 09:58:11 -0800 2003 0 john clark 1 1623396 Celadon Tea near SF which mail orders, has a tied Jasmine Tea. The tea is wrapped around a pink clover blossom and makes a stunning display. A bonus is that Celadon is perhaps one of the finest tea houses in the country. So the quality is top of the line. This tea always impresses my guests with it's flavor and presentation. It blooms into a beautiful pink flower (dried tea picture below). I serve it in a clear glass tea pot Celadon sells those as well. As to, uh, 20 - 30 minutes. I can't imagine steeping any tea that long and not having it be bitter. Maybe a typo and they meant 2 - 3 minutes? All fine teas stand up to multiple infusions. The red (aka black) teas can take up to 10 infusions, depending on the tea. Green teas will take up to 3 - 5 infusions. Do not let the tea sit in water all day though. When you are ready to drink a new infusion, pour hot water over the tea. Tea should be separated from water after 2 - 3 minutes. The pot I bought from Celadon, has a clear glass center that holds the tea and can be removed and set aside. For a regular tea pot, after tea has steeped for 2 - 3 minutes, pour into tea cups and pour any remaining liquid tea into another pot, leaving the leaves behind in the original pot waiting for the next infusion. Should you go the Celadon route, 2 oz is quite a lot of tea. I would say about 20 - 25 of these little bundles. Link: http://store.yahoo.com/celadonteas/hatijatea.html Image: http://store3.yimg.com/I/celadonteas_1764_5659486 Thu Dec 18 11:56:22 -0800 2003 1623384 0 Stanley Stephan 2 1623725 Stanley, and the rest of you, thank you so much, really truly. I'd never seen tea like this. I read this post on Thursday while I was at school (they showed movies the last day for kids who weren't taking tests), and immediately ordered two teas from Celadon, including the one you picture. I was totally amazed to receive the tea yesterday, the 20th, in the middle of Oklahoma, just in time to divide it up into very special little additions to a couple of tea lovers' Christmas packages (one of whom is flying out tomorrow to spend Chrismas in SF, so the circle is complete). I'm enjoying a cup of the tea right now. The scent is lovely. Again, thanks for taking the time to post that link and spread beautiful tea into flyover country. Sun Dec 21 12:21:06 -0800 2003 1623396 0 Betty 3 1623783 So happy you liked the tea. Be sure to get on Celadon's mailing list. Tea is seasonal and they keep you informed about what has just arrived. Mon Dec 22 01:41:28 -0800 2003 1623725 0 Stanley Stephan 2 1623763 Thanks, Stanley! My mother brought me half a dozen of those from China, and I finally brewed two of them today, but I had forgotten what she said they were. I used a gai lan, poured it off into another cup and reinfused it -- three infusions total. Great, but more caffienated that I was expecting. I'm caffiene sensitive and I'm feeling quite buzzed! Sun Dec 21 20:54:23 -0800 2003 1623396 0 Ruth Lafler 1 1623404 You only need to steep green tea for a few minutes, under 5 minutes (1-3 for green tea is ideal). I really like the pearl jasmine tea, which unfurls to reveal a jasmine flower. I buy all my tea from Upton Tea online, and I'm very happy with their selection and service (plus, their shipping charges are very reasonable). Upton has two types of pearl jasmine. Link: http://www.uptontea.com/ Thu Dec 18 12:41:13 -0800 2003 1623384 0 AndieCat 2 1623411 I like watching the leaves unfurl in the Pearl Jasmines, but they are not a display tea as described by the original poster. When the pearl unfurls, it opens to it's original shape as a leaf. A display tea will create a flower shape. If you enter "Display tea" in Goggle you will find a number of sources. The link below says to serve in a wine glass, but gee, hot water, wine glass. Sounds like a bad idea. This picture I found gives you an idea of what the tea looks like in the pot (or glass). Ok, ok, I will concede you CAN steep these a little longer without the bitterness. I love looking at the flower in the water and have left the tea soaking a while. BTW, if your supermarket sells Republic of Tea, they have a tied tea which they promise will look like a crysanthamum or something like that... a grey dingy mum, IMO. It is just awful in taste and presentation. Link: http://www.asiafood.org/displayteas.cfm Image: http://www.giftsandhome.globalsources.com/MAGAZINE/GH//0308/IMAGES//NPFBIL02.JPG Thu Dec 18 13:01:40 -0800 2003 1623404 0 Stanley Stephan 1 1623413 I've never used blooming tea per se, but I am a nut for high quality longjing (Dragon Well) tea, which is an "unfermented" green tea. It's considered by many (including "official" sources) to be China's finest tea. In the region where longjing tea is grown, which includes Shanghai, it is usually infused in a tall glass tumbler, rather than a cup. This allows the drinker to watch the "blooming" of the leaves, as well as scrutinize their quality. The leaves will initially rise to the top, then slowly unfold like flowers and flutter to the bottom like tiny parachutes. It really does take about 20 minutes for all of the leaves to settle at the bottom. You can drink it sooner, but you risk getting tea leaves in your teeth (not to mention burnt fingers from the handle-less tumbler!) With repeat infusions (and some people actually pour off the first infusion without drinking it) the saturated leaves tend to stay put at the bottom of the glass and you can drink the tea as hot as you like. Longjing tea is never separated from the water, and can be reinfused "all day", so to speak, though the intensity of the flavor will of course diminish. If it's a high-quality early season longjing tea it will never become unpleasantly bitter no matter how long the leaves are in the water. Jasmine tea, incidentally, is usually made with inferior grade or later season longjing tea as a base and is not as forgiving when it comes to undergoing multiple infusions. Thu Dec 18 13:16:10 -0800 2003 1623384 0 Gary Soup 2 1623423 I'll have to try my longjing like that next time. The article below says the fluttering around the glass is called the "dance of the teas" (formerly known as the agony of the teas). It also mentions that the tied teas are offically called mudans They also say to serve in a wine glass. I'd be interested to know if anyone has personally done that. Save me soon. I'm sick and need amusement, so it won't be long before I start breaking out a wine glass and my Celadon tea and trying this out. The key word here I fear is breaking. Anyway, here is a link to Holy Mountain tea which has a display tea sampler. Never ordered from them, so I can't comment on quality. Scroll to the bottom, they are the last sampler. http://www.holymtn.com/tea/t-samplers.htm Link: http://www.teamuse.com/article_020801.html Image: http://www.teamuse.com/images/teamuse_red_mudan_2.jpg Thu Dec 18 13:51:13 -0800 2003 1623413 0 Stanley Stephan 1 1623417 Last time I was there, Peet's had a blooming tea that looked like a big chrysanthamum when brewed..I forget what *type* of tea it actually was, but it certainly fits your description... Thu Dec 18 13:24:52 -0800 2003 1623384 0 galleygirl 1 1623418 Yes! I saw this very thing in the Harney Tea catalog. I meant to order from them for Christmas gifts but yet again ran out of time. In addition to these blooming teas, they have very beautiful tea sachets that look like something you would put in your lingerie drawer (if in fact you are of the lingerie wearing persuasion), but they are for steeping. I've ordered from them for myself and was very happy with the selection. Link: http://www.harneytea.com/ Thu Dec 18 13:26:34 -0800 2003 1623384 0 Dipsy 1 1623451 These teas are a lot of fun, but buy a small quantity - green teas don't keep all that long. There are also black display-type teas - one is the Red Peony Rosettes from specialteas.com - solid keemun tea. But note that to appreciate these teas the recipient needs to have a glass teapot, or at least heat-resistant glass mugs to drink from. The teas with the red blossom in the center are certainly pretty, if you don't mind the fact that the bloom is a dyed chrysanthemum. I prefer my teas straight without flowers added (the best jasmine teas don't contain any physical parts of the flower.) Holy Mountain (www.holymtn.com) has several different display teas in its green teas section. I have had the Snow Lotus and it's quite good. Thu Dec 18 16:36:56 -0800 2003 1623384 0 Sir Gawain