Organic Crimson Rose

有机墨红玫瑰

Harvest
May 2024

Origin
Heqing, Yunnan

These full, vibrant roses are grown on a small organic farm in the town of Heqing, Yunnan. They are called “Crimson,” a varietal of rose that originates in France.

To prepare them for tea, each flower is harvested carefully by hand early in the morning, before the sun is too intense. Immediately after picking, the flowers are freeze-dried to preserve as much of the natural aromas, oils, minerals and vitamins as possible.

You use a whole flower to brew this tea, and when you taste its liquor, you realize how successfully this method has captured the rose’s essence. The tea is a total experience of crimson rose: delicate, nourishing, uplifting, and saccharine. The reanimated flower slowly lends its hue to the water: as it expands and grows pale, the water around it takes on a deep, vibrant pink – the same bright crimson colour the petals would have been on the morning it was picked.

The dried flowers smell sweet and caramelized, and have a commanding presence piled up together. This tea is brewed with one whole flower. As soon as hot water hits it, the liquid turns an incredible sapphire blue. As the flower itself slowly drains its fuschia hue into the liquor, the blue fades into a blushing, vibrant pink. Its taste is consistent with previous years: these organic roses brew a vivid, clean, dense, and remarkably soft tea, the pleasure of which is uninterrupted by any astringency.

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Brewing guide