For a long time, the art of tea drinking has become a cultural beauty and is still preserved to this day. Each land, each locality has its own way of making and enjoying tea. But perhaps throughout the country, the fragrance of West Lake lotus tea has never ceased to captivate people. Someone once said that tea leaves soaked in lotus in Dong Tri pond, Thuy Su, Quang Ba village, West Lake is the best tea that cannot be compared anywhere else.
Patient and meticulous
West Lake lotus is always considered a precious lotus because it has many petals stacked together, deep yellow pistil, light pink petals, a very strange pink color, not light, not dark, fragrant. Not only the flowers but the leaves also have a very strong fragrance, a fragrance that is both gentle and slightly strong of the mud that has been deposited for thousands of years, the sweetness of the sacred West Lake water of Thang Long land.
Lotus tea makers always choose the gentle time of dusk and early morning to quietly row their small boats through the water.
Lotus tea makers always choose the gentle time of dusk and early morning to quietly row a small boat through the pond and pick the newly blooming lotus flowers with a fresh, fragrant scent.
The step of perfuming the tea with lotus is the most important step to get a cup of fragrant lotus tea with rich flavor and essence. The reason why West Lake lotus tea is precious is partly because the lotus blooms once a year from June to August, which can produce the most beautiful and even lotus flowers.
When steeping tea, artisans can directly steep tea leaves in lotus flowers picked from the pond, using morning dew collected on lotus leaves to make pots of tea known as "the best tea of all time".
In addition, the method of scenting with lotus rice is the most popular way to preserve the essence of the scent for the longest time. For every 1 kg of tea, people have to use 200g of lotus rice for a single scenting. Meanwhile, to have 100g of lotus rice, nearly 100 lotus flowers are needed. The scenting process must be repeated about 8 times, so on average, each kg of tea needs about 1,400 West Lake lotus flowers. Because of such elaborateness, lotus tea can preserve the lotus scent for such a long time.
Delicate and elegant
To truly enjoy the original flavor of West Lake lotus tea, the way of making and enjoying tea also creates a special part. The hundred-year-old secret of making tea of the ancient people of Trang An is always the most perfect standard to make a delicious pot of tea and turn it into a beautiful art.
Every step of making tea requires a peaceful mind of the person making it. Leaving behind the fatigue of work and life, a quiet moment with a pot of tea with the fragrant scent of West Lake lotus will be a medicine to heal the soul of the diner. Sipping a cup of tea with some green bean cake or some green rice flakes is also an interesting suggestion for a more peaceful life.
West Lake lotus tea is not only a famous drink, but also the tradition and soul of the people of the capital. Preserving and experiencing this elegant pleasure is both a way to recall the precious old years and to create a quiet and elegant space for each person.
