I’ll let you in on a little secret. I’m not a fan of flowers. While you may find some greenery in my house, anything floral is usually fake. Don’t get me wrong though, I do think certain flowers are very pretty. I just prefer fake ones over real ones because when I find flowers that I like, well, I want them to last forever. However, my relationship with floral teas is entirely different. As it is officially spring time, flowers are on my mind and in my tea cups.

For the longest time I wasn’t a fan of floral teas because the aroma and tastes would usually be too strong for my liking and, sometimes, result in headaches. I later came to realize that this was actually because the teas I was steeping and sipping used perfumes or oils to replace the use of actual flowers. I can handle, and actually really enjoy floral teas, when the flowers are directly used. So while I prefer fake flowers in my home, real flowers are more welcomed in my teas!

While there are many herbal teas that are perfect for this season (ie. rosebuds, chamomile, lavender, etc.) this list is focusing more on true teas (especially green teas, they scream spring to me!) that have been scented or blended with either roses, jasmine, lotus or osmanthus flowers.

Floral Teas for Spring Time!

Green Teas

Jasmine Pearls
The most famous scented tea in China is definitely jasmine tea. You can find jasmine used in many different teas but my absolute favourite are the hand-rolled pearls. Not only is it a lovely tea to sip and enjoy as if you’re in a garden of jasmine flowers but the visual beauty of watching the pearls unfurl is a special treat.

Recommendations: Arbor Tea or Adagio

Vietnamese Lotus Tea
Long before I liked any type of floral teas, there was one tea that made its way to my heart. Vietnamese Lotus tea is a green tea that absorbs the scent of the lotus flower, which symbolizes clarity, grace and beauty. In comparison to jasmine, lotus is much more delicate. This tea has a pleasant vanilla finish.

Recommendation: Hatvala *watch the video below from them that shows how their lotus tea is prepared.

Oolong Tea

Osmanthus Oolong
The osmanthus flower symbolizes romance making this particular scented oolong traditionally used as a wedding tea in Taiwan. The oolong leaves are baked with osmanthus blossoms giving the end product a fresh floral and fruity steep. I find the oolong tea to be quite mellow.

Recommendation: Tea Ave

Black Tea

Rose Congou
If roses are in my tea, I usually prefer it to be with a bold black tea (sometimes even a dark oolong). The leaves of this black tea are withered with rose petals and some petals are left blended in the tea afterwards, serving as decoration. It results in subtle rose flavours and a delightful aroma.

Recommendation: Capital Teas

Blooming Teas

I don’t think you can have a list of floral teas without including the ever so beautiful blooming teas. Out of all the teas on this list, blooming teas were actually the ones that took me longer to enjoy and appreciate. Hand-crafted, these teas blossom into various works of floral art when they are steeping in hot water. They are a lot of fun to watch bloom and usually I favour that part more than the actual sipping part. Here are a few blooming teas I have enjoyed steeping and sipping, though.

Recommendations:

Halo (white tea with jasmine) from Art of Tea

True Love (green tea with jasmine, marigold and amaranth) from Teavivre

Oriental Beauty (green tea with jasmine and chrysanthemum) from Teavivre

What floral teas can be found in your cup for spring time? Share in the comments below!