Gardenia Green

The addition of gardenia blossoms to green and oolong teas is relatively recent, and it’s a little exciting to discover something new in tea’s long history. Though historically, China has been using gardenia for medicinal purposes it is becoming quite the popular fragrant drink. This green tea is layered with gardenia blossoms multiple times, similar to my Super Yin Hao Jasmine green tea. This is a labor intensive process making this tea quite special.

Flower-scented teas (rose, osmanthus, magnolia) have a long history in China, with Jasmine Green being the best known. In the Song Dynasty records indicate that jasmine flowers were used to scent tea, but mainly for private family use and not standardized. By the Ming Dynasty, methods to stabilize jasmine tea were developed, first in Fujian province, where even today, many Jasmine teas claim origin. There are written records validating the craftsmanship of jasmine tea. Later in the Qing Dynasty, Jasmine tea was presented to court as a tribute tea.

Recommendation:

If serving this iced, consider using an extra 1 1/2 teaspoon of tea for every 6 – 8 ounces of water to provide more flavor. Melting ice will dilute the blend. Or consider cold steeping this blend. To cold steep, put the appropriate amount of tea and water into a pitcher and let steep in the refrigerator for about 1 1/2 hours. Remove the tea leaves and voila, your tea is cold and ready to drink.