Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Posted by Miss Neddy at 08:32 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Categories: Tea White Wulong

There are many teas endowed with the names of flowers. Some are named so because that flower lends its fragrance to the tea leaves, such as Jasmine tea (香片 Xiāngpiàn or 茉莉花茶 Mòlìhuā chá）and Osmanthus Wulong （桂花乌龙 Guìhuā Wūlóng). Others carry the names of flowers even though they are pure teas, usually because the leaves may resemble the flower named, or the taste of the tea may evoke the scent of the flower.

One of the more famous pure teas with a flowery name is the Yellow Gold Osmanthus (黄金桂 Huángjīnguì), sometimes known as the Queen of Teas, as opposed to the King of Teas, Iron Goddess of Mercy (铁观音 Tiěkuānyīn). Tiěkuānyīn is known for its “oppressiveness”, being a tea with both strong fragrance and taste, it overpowers the senses. Even when made as a lighter wulong, Tiěkuānyīn carries a powerful floral scent and almost nectar-like sweetness; in this form, only its mild astringency saves the tea from being cloying. The Huángjīnguì, in contrast, is an exquisite tea that is close in taste, fragrance and colour to Tiěkuānyīn, but is always milder and subtler. As a black tea, Huángjīnguì is smoky and the tea has a dark golden colour. As an wulong, the tea is bright gold and bears a soft floral scent reminiscent of the osmanthus flower. Huángjīnguì is regarded as one of the four top teas from Anxi, ranked just after Tiěkuānyīn.

Another notable tea with a floral name is the Golden Daylily (金萱 Jīnxuān) or sometimes known as the Golden Lily in English, since the daylily is not a well-known flower. This light wulong is famous for having a faintly milky taste, and its rich gold coloured tea gives off a mild but pleasant floral fragrance. Other florally named teas include a white tea called the White Peony (白牡丹 Bái Mǔdān) which resembles the peony as the tea leaves are bound together into a peony or chrysanthemum shape; and the Narcissus teas (水仙 Shǔixiān). Other flowers that are popularly used as tea names are the orchid (兰花 Lánhuā) and rose (玫瑰 Méiguì).

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