Cooling tea
(Chrysanthemum tea: Suzhou, China)
For the last few weeks I was in China (the last time), I was drinking this type of tea like it was going out of fashion. I bought a tea flask in the equivalent of a $1 or £1 shop in China – it is made of glass and has both an inner and outer skin. The inner section is filled with hot water and tea, a fine mesh cap goes on the top to prevent the tea leaves or flowers escaping and the outer layer prevents burnt hands. It is a cheap version of a thermos flask and it fits in my bag perfectly when I go out anywhere. It also has a screw lid, of course, to keep it watertight.
This tea is Chrysanthemum and it’s made of the flower heads themselves, rather than leaves. It has a delicate (predictably) floral taste and hardly colours the water at all. Ying and I buy the tea as dried flower heads and the hot water opens them up like so.
You can see the metal mesh cap in this image and the double layer of glass at each side. It is great design and everyone uses them, either made of glass or plastic. Taxi drivers, shop assistants, businessmen… For those that don’t, a jam jar or glass bottle does the same job.
– Today Rosie is organising her life in Glasgow, Scotland –
