Basic Introduction to Guilin Osmanthus Tea
Osmanthus, aside from being rich in symbolism and used for ornamental purposes, is also a top-quality ingredient for making scented teas, extracting aromatic oils, and producing sweets and pastries, and it's very popular. Drinking osmanthus tea can help with weight loss and beautify the skin. The best osmanthus is picked from osmanthus trees in July and August. Dried osmanthus used for brewing tea can detoxify, improve bowel function, and enhance appearance.
Guilin osmanthus tea is produced in Guilin, Guangxi, and its production started in the 1970s at the Guilin Tea Factory.
Nutritional Value
Osmanthus tea can prevent and treat bad breath, blurred vision, urticaria, duodenal ulcers, cold stomach, and stomach pain.
It has the effects of whitening the skin, eliminating toxins from the body, relieving cough, reducing phlegm, nourishing the lungs, and promoting health. Many people feel their skin is dry during summer or have hoarse voices due to heatiness; adding some osmanthus to green tea or oolong tea can alleviate these symptoms.
Guilin osmanthus tea is a Guilin specialty. After fresh osmanthus flowers are used to scent the tea, it retains the true flavor of the tea while carrying a rich osmanthus aroma. Drinking it helps to ventilate the lungs and soothe the stomach, making it suitable for elderly people with weak stomach functions.
Product Features
The main characteristics of this tea are: tight, fine, uniform shape; dark green and lustrous color; flowers hidden among the leaves like gold; golden yellow color; strong and lasting fragrance; bright greenish-yellow infusion; mellow and pleasant taste; tender, yellow, and bright leaf base.
Production Method
1. Raw Material Proportion: Generally, use 15 kg of fresh osmanthus for every 50 kg of refined tea buds. The amount can be adjusted based on the grade of the flower-scented tea.
2. Preparation of Tea Buds: Use fresh tea leaves with one bud and two leaves as raw materials, and adopt a new tea-making process characterized by “high-temperature fixation, quick kneading, safe drying” to produce green tea buds. The tea buds should be young and tender, tightly knitted, fragrant, and contain less than 5% water. When cooled down to 26-30°C, they are ready for scenting. Alternatively, take finished high-quality green tea and warm it up to 30°C before scenting.
3. Harvesting of Osmanthus: Pick the flowers when they are in the shape of a tiger claw, golden yellow, and just beginning to open. Lightly pick, loosely store, and quickly transport the flowers, avoiding hitting them with bamboo poles to prevent damage and discoloration. Remove stems, leaves, and other impurities from the freshly picked flowers and scent them as soon as possible. There are several varieties of osmanthus, including Golden osmanthus, Silver osmanthus, Red osmanthus, Four-season osmanthus, and Everblooming osmanthus, among which Golden osmanthus has the most intense and long-lasting fragrance and is of superior quality.
4. Scenting Tea Buds with Flowers: First, lay a layer of tea buds on a clean bamboo mat or white cloth, then evenly spread a layer of osmanthus over it. Repeat this layering process, finishing with a layer of tea buds on top. If the indoor temperature is below 20°C, cover the tea pile with a white cloth to maintain a stable temperature and promote normal fragrance release from the fresh flowers. When there is a small amount of osmanthus, use the same method to scent it with tea buds in containers such as wooden boxes.
5. Ventilation and Cooling: Ventilation involves spreading out the tea pile to cool down. When the tea buds have absorbed fragrance for 2-3 hours and the temperature of the tea pile rises to 40°C, spread it out and turn it over once to allow it to cool down. When the temperature drops below 30°C, gather it back into a pile for the second round of scenting to ensure even fragrance absorption.
6. Sieving Out Flower Residues: When the osmanthus becomes wilted and the petals turn purple-red, and the tea buds become soft but not sticky to the touch, the scenting process should be completed. Spread out the tea pile, sieve out the flower residues, and let them dry before mixing them back into the tea.
7. Re-drying: During the scenting process, the tea buds absorb a lot of moisture, reaching a moisture content of up to 15%. They must be dried as soon as possible to reduce the moisture content to around 5% to prevent mold growth.
8. Packaging and Storage: After drying, the tea becomes osmanthus tea. Allow it to cool naturally for 24 hours, then seal it in exquisite paper bags or composite film bags according to weight specifications and place it in cartons. It can now be supplied to the market or stored in a well-ventilated, dry room. Take care to prevent dampness, mold, and rodent damage. The storage period should not exceed one year.
Tasting and Preparation Methods for Guilin Osmanthus Tea
Preparation Method One:
Ingredients: 12g osmanthus, 6g hawthorn, 3g codonopsis, and an appropriate amount of rock sugar.
Method: Place 300ml of water in a pot, add the osmanthus, hawthorn, and codonopsis, and boil for 5 minutes. Then switch to low heat and continue cooking for 30 minutes. Strain and add rock sugar, stirring until dissolved.
Preparation Method Two:
Ingredients: 5g dried osmanthus (15g fresh osmanthus), and an appropriate amount of rock sugar or honey.
Method: Place the osmanthus and rock sugar in a cup, pour boiling water over it, and steep for three minutes. Strain and serve. If using honey instead of rock sugar, add it after straining and stir before serving.