The Tradition of Blooming Tea and Blossom Tea

Many people are aware of the tradition of herbal teas in general. Although the practice of using botanicals for a tea base has only recently become common in western cultures, relatively speaking, it has been a part of Asian culture for many thousands of years.

This fact may be due to the proliferation of so many different types of flowering plants, bushes, and vines that grow naturally in the more temperate and humid climates of the Asian continent. Even the colder air of the Himalayan mountain ranges produces some of the most colorful blossoming plants known, such as several species of jasmine.

Asian flowers are widely recognized as some of the most beautiful and fragrant blossoming plants in the world. Orchids, lilies, and chrysanthemums are some of the most popular, yet the variety of these types of flowering botanicals found all across the Asian continent is overwhelming. This would probably explain the importance of these flowers in Asian traditions of all kinds, including their use in blossom tea.

Blossom tea, also known as blooming tea, has many applications in Asian culture. It has been used not only as an everyday beverage, but as part of the religious rituals that make up the multi-faceted belief systems of the Asian peoples. Flowers attained the personality traits of some of the mythological icons of Buddhist, Taoist, and other religious followings, and brewing blossom tea was seen as a spiritual rite as much as a dietary choice. Elaborate tea ceremonies are an intrinsic aspect of Chinese and Japanese culture even today, and the use of blooming tea is an integral part of this tradition.

The age-old ritual of brewing tea has evolved over the centuries into a serious art form for Asian craftsmen who have passed down their skills from generation to generation. The adding of herbs and flowers to boiled water is not seen as a perfunctory action - it is considered to be a form of paying homage to the power of the flora. This is most evident in the way in which these gifted artisans weave plants and blossoms together so that they unfold in a dramatic and symbolic fashion during the brewing process. The longevity of life in the globe amaranth, the passion of love in the rose, and the serenity in the jasmine are unveiled as the flowers become re-activated by the hot water. This is the essence of the art of blooming tea.

This time-tested tradition of using blossom tea is being discovered more and more by Western culture as the health benefits of herbal teas are recognized. Asian cultures have long understood the physiological aspects of brewing herbal tea for ailments of both the mind and the body, yet this fact has only recently been acknowledged by the more skeptical scientific minds of the West. The newer studies of the verified healing properties of many of the herbs and plants that have been used in Asia over the centuries has created a groundswell of interest in the practice of brewing blossom tea. The added benefit of having a visual show to be entertained by as the tea brews is yet one more reason that this practice is beginning to become a tradition in the Western world.