Whenever I am in China during Osmanthus blossoming season the air is bursting with the most sweet, fruity aroma. I can become a little obsessed and find myself tracking down the trees or bushes to get a nose full of that fragrance. In China they use the flowers to make syrups which they drizzle over sweet dumplings. Drool.
I fell so in love with the smell of Osmanthus that I even smuggled a little tree from Hong Kong to the UK and everytime it blossoms I am amazed at how much aroma can come from the tiniest of flowers.
But you don't have to break the law to experience this natural apricot and almond fragrance because we have this Osmanthus Oolong!
Made in a similar way to Jasmine tea, the producers make a high quality Tie Guan Yin and then mix it with hundreds of thousands of fresh Osmanthus flowers which give up their heavenly fragrance into the tea. Unlike Jasmine, Osmanthus does not taste bitter when they are dried and so the producer does not have to pick out all of the flowers to make high quality tea.
