Golden Osmanthus Tea (Gui Hua Cha)
One of the most popular non-caffeinated Chinese teas, Pure Golden Osmanthus Tea (or 桂花茶 Gui Hua Cha) was part of the Chinese imperial palace's diet dating back to the Tang dynasty! If you want to drink what the royals drank, here are 4 easy ways to make this beautifying, classic and popular Chinese tea
- Prep time
- 3 min
- Cook time
- 3 min
- Yield
- 1 serving
- Difficulty
- MEDIUM
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- 1 teaspoon dried osmanthus flowers
- 1 Cup water at 185F/ 85C
- 1 teaspoon dried osmanthus flowers
- 1 Cup water at 185F/ 85C (As above)
- Either osmanthus sugar, honey or rock sugar, to taste
- 1 teaspoon dried osmanthus flowers
- 2 teaspoon dried oolong tea leaves
- 1 Cup water at 185F/ 85C (As above)
- 1 teaspoon dried osmanthus flowers
- 2.5 teaspoon dried green tea leaves
- 1 Cup water at 185F/ 85C (As above)
Instructions
- 1
Bring water to the boil and let it cool. If you like to be exact, use a thermometer to make sure the water is 85C/ 185F before making tea
- 2
Place the dried flowers in a tea strainer and run through with hot water (i.e. you're washing the tea "leaves" to get rid of any dirt any dust on it)
- 3
Add 1C of 85/ 185F water to the dried flowers and leave to steep, to taste. (I usually leave it about 2-3 minutes) The longer you steep the flowers, the stronger the flavour and the more golden the colour.
- 4
If you're a visual person, add a few osmanthus blossoms to the cup!
- 5
Repeat the above steps, but add some sweetener to taste, such as rock sugar or honey. You can also use natural sweeteners such as dried longans, wolfberries and red dates. Note that they're all warming, according to TCM, so taking too much is not advisable as it would put the body out of balance. (Too much heaty foods can lead to sore throats and acne.)
- 6
Repeat the steps for Osmanthus Tea (Pure) but add the oolong tea leaves to the osmanthus flowers in the strainer.
- 7
Repeat the steps for Osmanthus Tea (Pure) but add the green tea leaves to the osmanthus flowers in the strainer.