“Trà Sen Hồ Tây is a famous and special tea used to offer to the king, later it was very popular among royalty, mandarins, scholars, and intellectuals. The tea is processed by artisans from Phủ Tây Hồ using secret family recipes. Trà Sen is a representative of Vietnamese tea culture, a quintessential product worthy of being called the queen of Vietnamese tea or the ancient number one tea.”
This type of tea is a combination of specialty tea from some regions in Thái Nguyên province and Hà Giang province; then it is marinated with the Bách Diệp lotus flowers from West Lake. The marinating and drying process of this tea is extremely complex, meticulous, and must be done entirely by the hands of tea artisans at Phủ Tây Hồ.
Unique tea marinating art
The lotus flowers used to marinate the tea must be lotus flowers grown in the pond in Quảng Bá village in West Lake (Phủ Tây Hồ), this is the famous Bách Diệp lotus with large buds and distinctive fragrance.
The artisan family will pick the lotus flowers from 3 – 4 AM, this is when the lotus just starts to bloom and has the most intense fragrance. According to tradition, only the husband – the head of the family – is allowed to row the boat to the middle of the pond to pick the lotus. After that, the lotus flowers are brought back to separate the lotus rice, which requires extreme care and meticulousness so that the lotus rice is not crushed to retain the fragrance, this is also considered the most difficult stage. Each layer of tea is sprinkled with a layer of lotus rice and then marinated and dried with charcoal or steamed, this process is repeated 7 times to complete a batch of tea.
Traditional flavor of history
This drink should be brewed in traditional earthenware teapots, especially the tử sa teapot, but glass teapots and porcelain teapots can also be used. The drinker needs to gently separate the lotus petals to take the tea inside. Put the tea into a bamboo tray and only use the tea for brewing. Then slowly pour the tea into the teapot, steep for 3 minutes to let the heat of the teapot awaken the fragrance of the tea. The water is boiled at a temperature of about 80 – 85°C and steeped for 30 seconds to 1 minute, the strong flavor can be adjusted based on longer steeping time. The final step, the tea is poured from the teapot into the chén tống (special tea cup), then poured into the chén quân (small cups) to enjoy. A lotus tea flower can be brewed about 2 to 7 times, depending on the type of tea inside.
A complete West Lake lotus tea teapot usually has a clear green water color mixed with golden rice color, has a gentle and cool lotus fragrance. The tea initially has a slight astringent taste, followed by a sweet aroma at the tip of the tongue and down the throat. West Lake lotus tea often has the effect of bringing a refreshing spirit.
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