Chrysanthemum Tea

Chrysanthemum tea is an infusion of the dried flower heads of Chrysanthemum morifolium, steeped whole in water just below boiling. The flowers open in the cup, and the drink is pale gold, light, floral and faintly sweet, often with rock sugar. Steeped at 90°C for three to four minutes. It contains no tea leaf and no caffeine.

Origin & Story

A flower with a long history in China

In China the chrysanthemum is a garden flower, a medicine in the traditional pharmacopoeia and a drink, and gatherings to admire it with wine and poetry were in fashion by the third and fourth centuries. It is tied above all to autumn and to the Double Ninth Festival, held on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month. By legend the custom of climbing a hill and drinking chrysanthemum wine on that day goes back to the Han dynasty, to a man named Huan Jing who was told to take his family up a mountain to escape a disaster. Few people make chrysanthemum wine now, and on the festival most drink chrysanthemum tea instead.

The flower is also everyday. In Cantonese restaurants and homes, guk fa, chrysanthemum, is one of the standard teas, poured with dim sum and fried or roasted food because its light, clean taste balances rich dishes. In traditional Chinese medicine it is classed as a cooling herb, and many families drink it in summer for that reason; that is a traditional view, not a tested effect. In Hong Kong it is also sold sweetened in cartons and cans.

Which flowers

Tea chrysanthemums are cultivars of Chrysanthemum morifolium, the same species as the florist's chrysanthemum, grown and dried for drinking. Two are best known. Hangbaiju, the white chrysanthemum of Hangzhou, has whitish, tongue-shaped petals, and its home is Tongxiang, a town on the plain north of Hangzhou in Zhejiang, which has grown it for nearly four hundred years. Huangshan gongju, the tribute chrysanthemum of the Yellow Mountains in Anhui, was once sent to the imperial court as tribute.

China's agricultural registry limits true Hangbaiju to a small part of Tongxiang. That has not stopped other flowers being sold under the name: a 2023 report described imported white chrysanthemum being processed in Tongxiang and resold as local tea. If the origin matters to you, buy from a seller who names the farm or the county.

From field to jar

The flowers are picked in batches in autumn, from about September to November, as they come into full bloom. Then they are dried, by one of several methods: in the shade, by baking, or by steaming them briefly and drying them in the sun. Some sellers also offer the unopened buds.

What it tastes like

The infusion is clear and pale gold. The aroma is soft and floral, and the taste is light and faintly sweet, with a clean, slightly herbal finish and sometimes a hint of honey. It is delicate, which is why it is so often brewed with rock sugar, or with a few goji berries for color and a fruity sweetness.

Brewing it

Use about six whole flowers, around 2 g, for 240 ml of water at 90°C, and steep for three to four minutes with the lid on so the scent stays in the pot. A glass pot or cup lets you watch the flowers open. Add rock sugar at the start if you want it sweet. The flowers give a second, lighter infusion with a little more time.

Before you drink it often

Chrysanthemum is in the daisy family, along with ragweed, chamomile and mugwort. People with allergies to those plants can react to it, and Memorial Sloan Kettering's herb guide advises people with a ragweed allergy to avoid it. The same guide says transplant patients should avoid chrysanthemum, because it may raise blood levels of immunosuppressant drugs; one kidney-transplant patient had toxic drug levels after drinking a herbal tea that contained it. If you take regular medication, check with a pharmacist first.

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