Some of the most interesting combinations involve tea and flowers. Scent science explains why such pairings have become classics – tea leaves and blossoms such as gardenia, violet, rose or osmanthus have a number of fragrant compounds in common. When blended, the complementary aromas create affinities that enrich the taste of tea as well as its fragrance. In my latest FT column, Discovering The World’s Finest Floral Teas, I explain what makes flower notes pair so well with tea and share my favorites.
You can read the full article by clicking here. I also welcome you to take a look at the Bois de Jasmin tea archives, because we have quite a selection of posts on making tea, enjoying seasonal variations, taking it with roses, jasmine, roasted rice, or even experimenting with Estonian and Thai blue teas. If you’re after a tea-based perfume, here is my list, Best Tea Perfumes in 10 Different Styles.
As always, I’d love to know about your favorite teas, floral and otherwise.
Photography by Bois de Jasmin, Ti Kuan Yin tea with a few drops of rosewater. Ordinarily, I don’t tweak Ti Kuan Yin teas at all, because they’re perfect as they are, but this combination turned to be so bright and complex that I’m going to enjoy it from time to time.
14 Comments
Sandra: Teas I love with floral notes
Mariage Frères:
Sakura 2000
Sweet Shanghai
Subtle Floral: Nocturne Oriental
Currently drinking De-Stress right now..soothing and comforting. November 10, 2017 at 10:09am
Victoria: What does Sweet Shanghai taste like? They all sound good, though. November 10, 2017 at 1:59pm
Sandra: Like a spring bouquet of flowers in your mouth November 11, 2017 at 7:39am
Carla: Mariage Frères French Breakfast is my favorite black tea. When I don’t want caffeine I like Mighty Leaf African Nectar (rooibos). Now I’m going to find some good floral teas by reading your column… November 12, 2017 at 6:44pm
Maria: Hi Victoria and all the readers,
As you I’ve always looked down on flavored teas, but because of one of your articles, I’ve discovered the pleasure of pairing teas and flowers. My favorite one is a Bai Hao Yin Zhen, a white tea from China, paired with some rose water. And for a wonderful infusion, cassis leaves from my garden, paired with a good amount of rose water. It’s almost as drinking l’Ombre dans l’eau! November 10, 2017 at 10:35am
Victoria: I also used to look down on flavored teas, but trying different blends I realized that it’s simply another kind of experience. White tea with roses, for instance, sounds perfect. November 10, 2017 at 2:04pm
Pinkdiamonds: I absolutely love floral teas of all sorts but the most interesting one I have is Mariage Frères White Tea with Lily of the Valley. November 10, 2017 at 11:48am
Victoria: Another one of my favorites! Lily of the valley matches green tea well. November 10, 2017 at 2:05pm
Austenfan: Right up my street!
Apart from the wonderful different jasmine teas, I also really enjoy other floral blends, when done well, they can make for some great beverages especially in summer. Damman used to have a great green tea flavoured with real rose petals, discontinued unfortunately. They also used to have a rose flavoured oolong, that I somehow never tried. I got another rose oolong the other day, and it’s nice, quite subtle and rose and oolong marry rather well.
MF has a number of floral blends that I enjoy, Lune Rouge for instance. DF has a great floral fruity oolong called Jardin de Luxembourg, quite heavy on the rose and just great in summer.
Oh and of course that lovely grapefruit flower tea that Nong Cha sells. November 10, 2017 at 2:33pm
Marlene: This is a lovely piece. I drink a lot of tea all day,about 7 cups. My current favorite is “Breakfast in Paris,”by Stash Teas. It is Earl Grey with lavender. It tastes as good as it smells. I got to have breakfast in the city of Paris this past June. Now I have had the best of both worlds! Thanks for your always informative and interesting entries with accompanying personal stories. Merci! November 10, 2017 at 11:31pm
Aurora: I love tea (especially black) so really enjoyed this post and the archive.
Favorites are: Kusmi St Petersbourg and Prince Vladimir, now am really interested in osmanthus tea too but tend to drink them after work, in the morning and during the day I drink Ceylon tea, ordinary brands in the UK are quite good while ordinary tea in France is usually poor, tea in Parisian cafes in particular. November 12, 2017 at 8:39am
Stacy: I love the White Wedding tea from Bellocq (in Brooklyn, NY). It is a jasmine silver needle white tea with notes of rose, lavender, and orange blossom. It is elegant and beautiful without being overpowering. I imagine heaven smells like this tea- very peaceful. November 13, 2017 at 2:22pm
Hayley: This sounds amazing.. November 15, 2017 at 4:22pm
Hayley: Dear Victoria, your earlier column on doctoring one’s tea with rosewater, vanilla and more was eye-opening. I tried that combination, and it was beautiful. I now keep rose petal black tea, milk oolong, and jasmine tea at work. It is such a pleasure to have a pot or two of fragrant tea in the middle of one’s work day.
I wonder if there is a fragrance equivalent of russian milk tea with strawberries.. November 15, 2017 at 4:26pm