Tea Blossoms

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.

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:

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.

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.    

Java Golden Black

Indonesia is one of the top coffee producing and exporting countries in the world.   Indonesia also produces and exports tea, mostly black tea for blending.   The cultivation of coffee and tea dates back to the Dutch colonization during 17th and 18th centuries.   The island of Java, with its tropical climate and rich volcanic soil, is the heartland of tea and coffee farming.

'Java' may be synonymous with coffee but this Java Golden is a premium-grade black tea.  It contains young gold leaves that make a cup of rich and strong tea, strong enough to sustain a person all night writing Java code.

Java Gold

Type:  Black   Country: Indonesia   Preparation:  95°C 4 Min

Dry Leaf:  The small, short and wiry leaves are gold and brown.   Their aroma is dark fruity (raisins and prunes).
Wet Leaf:  The wet leaves have a wet straw smell to them.
Liquor:      The tea is bright coppery in color.   It is brisk, spicy, lightly floral, with a coffee undertone.  It is excellent with milk and sugar.

Tee Score: 4 of 5

Tanzania Livingstonia

Tanzania, home to Mount Kilimanjiro, is the fourth largest tea producer in Africa after Kenya, Malawi and Uganda.  Over 75% of Tanzanian tea is exported.

German settlers first introduced and planted tea in Tanzania in 1902 and after World War II the British took over tea plantations.  Since her independence from Great Britain in 1961, Tanzania continues to cultivate tea in three major areas: south, northeast and northwest zones.

This Livingstonia tea is named after David Livingstone, a well-known 19th century Scottish medical missionary and explorer in Africa.  The tea is not as strong as regular African tea found in some tea bags.  It is a lighter black tea, somehow reminiscent of Lover's Leap from Sri Lanka.  

Livingstonia

Type:  Black    Country: Tanzania    Preparation:  95°C 4 Min

Dry Leaf:  The chopped pieces of dried leaves are raisiny.
Wet Leaf:  The wet leaves are brown and faintly floral.
Liquor:      The tea is reddish brown.   It is light to medium-bodied but with noticeable astringency.  It is slightly citrusy, spicy and floral.

Tee Score: 3 of 5

Tea Seed Oil

Tea seed oil, not to be confused with tea tree oil from Australia, has been used in Chinese kitchens for several hundred years.  The oil can come from the seeds of Camellia Sinensis as a byproduct of a tea garden, but is commonly derived from those of Camellia oleifera and Camellia tenuifolia.  C oleifera is the primary species cultivated in China while C tenuifolia is indigenous to Taiwan.

Camellia Sinensis seeds

The traditional method of  making the oil is as follows:

1. Pick and gather tea seeds.  Dry them in the sun.
2. Remove shells then pulverize the seeds.  
3. Briefly steam the pulverized seeds before cooling and compressing them into round cakes.
4. Load the cakes into an expeller to extract oil. 

Tea seed oil contains almost 85% of monounsaturated fatty acids and is praised as an optimal culinary oil.   Furthermore, tea seed oil has a higher smoking point of about 240°C.   It also has a longer shelf life.

Left to right: 1-Bitter tea oil, 2-Tea seed oil and 3-Tea oil Camellia

The three bottles of oil were imported from Taiwan or China.  Each has its unique flavor profile depending on the seed source and its processing method.

1. Bitter tea oil (Taiwan) was produced by the traditional method.  The color of the oil is golden yellow and its mouth feel is a slight bitter tea taste.   It is regarded as a tonic for new mothers.

2. Tea seed oil (Taiwan) was extracted from seeds that were roasted. The oil is orange amber in color and has a rich, molasses and roasted flavor.   It is lovely like sesame oil.

3. Tea oil Camellia (China) is almost translucent in color.  It is light and faintly buttery.   Although its neutral flavor is ideal for baking, deep frying and salad making, the oil might have been refined.

Coffee Milk Tea

Coffee, tea or both?  Yuan Yang tea or coffee milk tea was first created and gained its popularity in Hong Kong many years ago.  The original idea was to add coffee to Hong Kong style milk tea.  The name Yuan Yang, Chinese for Mandarin duck (a symbol of conjugal love), is befitting for a beverage that 'pairs' tea and coffee.

A balanced Yuan Yang cup of tea, optimally, would have 30% freshly brewed coffee and 70% just made Ceylon black tea with copious amounts of evaporated milk and sugar.   However, it is not sacrilegious to adjust the proportion of tea, coffee, milk and sweetener according to individual tastes.

A convenient way to enjoy a semi-authentic cup of Yuan Yang is to use a tea bag.  This brand of tea packets states that premium coffee and Ceylon black tea are in each bag, but does not indicate their ratio.  The bags have a strong coffee aroma.  

Yuan Yang

After brewing the bag in a mug of hot water for five minutes, the concoction looks very dark and its dominate aroma is roasted coffee.

Yuan Yang

The Yuan Yang tea takes cream and sugar well.  It is strong but smooth. The experience of drinking Yuan Yang is supposed to be about inhaling coffee aroma in the nose, tasting tea flavors in the mouth and detecting coffee essence in the throat.  For sure, it perks up your day.

Yuan Yang

Whisky Flavored Tea

"O Whisky! soul o' plays and pranks! 
Accept a bardie's gratfu' thanks!"  Robbie Burns, "Scotch Drink" 1785

This tea can be described as Chinese black tea marinated in a Scottish malt whisky flavor.  According to Scotch connoisseurs, estery flavors in moderation are desirable in Scotch whisky.  Estery is possessing chemical esters, such as fruity, floral and solvent odors/scents.   The dominant scent of the tea is estery: pear, banana and nail polish.   One sniff of the dried leaves could make Robbie Burns turn in his grave.  

The brewed tea is still estery but surprisingly smooth with a hint of malt.   It is reminiscent of a fruit-flavored tea, not Scotch.  

Whisky Flavored Tea

Type:  Black       Country: Scotland       Preparation:  95°C 4 Min

Dry Leaf:  Chopped pieces make up the dried leaves.  Their pear-like or varnishy scent is overwhelming.
Wet Leaf:  Behind the nail polish scent, there is a faint smell of wet straw.
Liquor:   The tea is golden brown.   It is smooth with pear-like and malty flavors.  There is barely any astringency but a slightly sour aftertaste.

Tee Score: 3 of 5

Coffee Leaf Infusion

Coffee beans are made from the seeds of Coffea plants.  These plants' fruits or cherries, and dried leaves can also be used to brew beverages that taste nothing like coffee.

Except in places like Ethiopia and Sudan, coffee leaf infusion has never become popular or mainstream.  Some health food stores in North America do carry dried coffee leaves for those who use them.

Recently, a startup (Wize Monkey) in Vancouver, BC, has begun to market its Coffee Leaf tea (technically it is not a tea) in bag form. The arabica leaves are sourced from and processed in a Nicaragua coffee plantation.  

Each bag is brewed like tea, about 3-4 minutes at 95°C.

Coffee Leaf Tea bag

The infusion is rich red brown in color.  It is smooth, sweet and ever so slightly herbaceous.   It is pleasant but a bit generic.

Coffee Leaf infusion

A flavored version of Coffee Leaf seems to bring out more sweetness; however, it has a slightly bitter artificial aftertaste.

Mango Coffee Leaf

Why coffee leaves?  Some researchers claim that a cup of coffee leaves has higher antioxidants but lower caffeine than a cup of tea does.