Tea blossoms are simply the flowers of Camellia sinensis whose leaves are harvested and transformed into many types of teas. Tea blossoms are hermaphrodite; i.e., each flower has both male and female reproduction parts. Tea flowers are generally white with golden yellow stamens.
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| Tea Flower on an indoor tea plant |
The flowers of Camellia sinensis are rarely collected by tea farmers. When they are, they are dried and used for making 'tea'. Here are two samples of dried blossoms:
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| Left - X Right - Y |
X: The flowers were wild harvested from ancient tea trees in Lan Xang region in East Asia. They were withered ( & oxidation occurred) and sun dried. They are commercially available.
Y: The flowers were gathered from an indoor pampered tea plant when they faded.
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| Left: X Right: Y |
Each cup of the tea blossom beverages was steeped using one teaspoon of flowers in four ounce of boiling water for six minutes. Both beverages taste woody and very herbaceous. X has a cinnamon note and Y is earthy & slightly bitter. Like tea, tea blossom beverages contain antioxidants as well as caffeine. According to a biochemistry study conducted in Taiwan, tea flowers contain much less caffeine (maybe 1/10 that of tea) but comparable amounts of polyphenols. In other words, a tea blossom beverage is healthy and 'virturally' caffeine-free.
