They charmed me. That they all did when I saw these Chinese artistic teas, which are also known as blooming teas (hui fa cha, 開花茶) or as simply as art teas, selling in a tea shop called Fook Ming Tong in Hong Kong. Hand-tied with silver needles (a kind of white tea) and natural flower. Lingering in a wine glass, its blossom moves with the natural grace of a ballerina whilst its tea leaves in the base comparable to the weeping willows in the wind -- such soul-capturing beauty is simply beyond words!
As with ming ching long jing (dragon well tea), so with these blooming teas: try to brew it in a large-sized wine glasses, one hand-tied tea 'ball' at a time (to do these heart-throbs justice, I used my newly bought Riedel 'O' Cabernet stemless wine glasses). Gently pour in hot water at about 80℃ (boiling water for green or white tea is always advise against). Allow 2-4 minutes soaking time, you'll see how the tea ball turn from a sleeping beauty to a willowy stunner. Each tea ball can be served up to 3 times.
Currently the store has 5 different specifications for sale. Each combination of flower and teas has its unique appearance and floral fragrant. The names of them are equally beguiling; there are red flower blossom (globe amaranth, pictured top); jasmine pearl-shaped (jasmine and pearl-shaped chrysanthemum, pictured middle); coral (jasmine and carnation); jasmine chrysanthemum and watery hamper (lily, pictured bottom). Each pack of these comes with about eight to nine blooming tea 'balls' and costs roughly HK$200.
