Tea scent with lotus is a special drink of Hanoi. This a most famous drink which has been preserved for a long time is called the West lake lotus tea.
Scenting lotus tea is a very careful process. Therefore, a kilo of lotus tea in the market costs 4 million VND.
The surroundings of the West lake are very famous, and is called with different names. Tourists call it the west lake water park. People who make lotus tea called it pond 7 inn Nhat Tan precinct. The lotus pond is situated next to the West lake water park so it is easy to find although the lane is rather rough.
In summer, in the early morning, tourists and young people come here to see flowers, take photos, and watch local people separating the pistil from the lotus flower for tea making.
The lotus season is easy to remember as it starts from Uncle Ho’s birthday (May.19) to his the anniversary of his death (Sep.2), said Ms Oanh Chem, who inherited the lotus tea making from her husband and who has over 30 years of experience.
Ms Oanh added lotus for tea scent must be the big lotus that has a fresh pink color. There is a need of from 800 to 1000 lotuses for a kilo of lotus tea.
Ms Oanh said that there are two ways to scent lotus tea. First, is to scent it by putting tea into inner lotus, and then binding the lotus leave. The Tea is left from the morning to the afternoon and then used to make drinks.
In the past, the tea was scented at night when the lotus has just opened. Tea was poured into the lotus, which would be fastened so that the lotus could not open widely. In the early morning, at about 5a.m, these lotuses would be picked up to make tea. This tea can be preserved from five to seven days.
The Second method is to scent the tea by lotus anther. Lotus is picked up in the early morning when the sun has not risen. It takes three or four weeks to scent a kilo of lotus tea with this method.
Source: Vietnamplus
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