How to make chrysanthemum tea

Picking chrysanthemums and drying them

Clean up the picked flowers and remove some useless branches. Place it in a cool place to dry, and avoid placing it in the hot sun or in a place with large temperature differences, as this will affect the quality of the scented tea. Dry in the sun until the flowers are dry.

Steamer

Use a pre-prepared steaming flower tray and place the dried flowers on it, with the stamens facing up or down, arranged evenly. 3 cm is best thickness; if it is too thick, it will be difficult to steam.

Steaming flowers

If you use a small stove to steam flowers, after the water in the iron pot boils, put two or three steaming flower plates in and cover the pot. The fire for steaming flowers should be strong and even. Add hot water each time you steam. There should be less water at the bottom of the pot, otherwise the water droplets condensed by the steam will affect the quality of the tea. The steaming time is about four to five minutes. If you steam it too long, the flowers will get wet and rotten, and it will be difficult to dry them. On the contrary, if you steam it too short, the flowers will become unripe. In short, neither too raw nor too cooked is good. When they are just out of the steamer, the petals are not stuck to the steamer and are grayish white in color. When the wind blows, they turn reddish brown in a short time.

Sun drying

The steamed chrysanthemums are spread out in the hot sun for three or four days. Be careful not to stir the chrysanthemums until they are dry, and do not press them when you take them at night. Turn the flowers over after three days of drying, and then continue drying for three or four days, for a total of about seven days (the drying method here varies from region to region). Store them away for a few days, then take them out and spread them out to dry for one or two days. When the flower core is completely dry and hard, it can be stored.