I think the first time that I drank Chinese flowering tea was in London either in 2008 or 2009. It was a time where one Asian Fusion restaurant after another seemed to open its doors and I must have had the tea at one of those places. I remember the beauty of the tea leaves unfolding and a flower rising out of the centre in slow motion.
Today I found the below, four packs of flowering tea in one of the kitchen cabinets. Being aware of my short-term obsession with this particular tea, my partner had given those to me as a, very thoughtful, birthday present once. I tried out one of the bundles but there was no real spectacle happening, instead the tea leaves just fell apart immediately and a rather faint looking blossom dropped onto one side of the glass. The taste reminded me of slightly dusty, dried leaves. I checked the expiration date. It said August 2009.
katazukete 