tea time

so i discovered ann arbor spice merchants today, which apparently just opened up the other week, and bought a few teas and tea blends to try. i spent a long time looking through all their varieties, but decided on a classic darjeeling, good for taking to class. then there was a berry black (a mix of dried raspberries, strawberries, hibiscus, rosehips, and darjeeling) which sounded interesting, but upon further inspection and steeping, was difficult to maneuver because the berries would so easily come to the top of the bag and be hard to work around and get an even distribution with the tea. but very fragrant and sweet. then a ginger-blended green-based tea which i have yet to explore. its called "ginger twist" with a mixture of ginger, orange and lemon slices, lemongrass, mint, papaya, apple, ginseng, and licorice. supposedly it "promotes focus" and is a powerful antioxidant. who knows.

but what i finally broke into is my dried chrysanthemums that i picked up at the asian market a few weeks ago. i spoke of "flowering" teas to tristan, which i've since discovered to be black tea leaves tied in intricate patterns so they "bloom" but are merely black tea leaves with some colorful petals in the middle to resemble flowers. chrysanthemums, however, are a staple of many chinese tea-houses (authentic dim-sum restaurants during mid-day always have this as an option, either alone or mixed with pu-erh). they're truly the "flowering" tea that i had in mind because they are purely the dried flowers of chrysanthemums. they are not very pleasant looking when dried (or pleasant smelling for that matter), but when steeped, truly bloom (seeing a handful of bright white flowers with vibrant yellow centers floating aimlessly, mingling in your cup/pot) and become deliciously aromatic. perhaps its an acquired taste since i've grown up with it, but it's really pretty.