Pure Golden Osmanthus tea/ Gui Hua flower tea (No Caffeine)

One of the most popular non-caffeinated Chinese teas, Pure Golden Osmanthus tea (桂花茶 Gui Hua flower tea) was part of the Chinese imperial palace's diet dating back to the Tang dynasty thanks to its health-giving and skin-nourishing properties. And fragrant floral taste, of course! I've included 3 different versions of this tea below.

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Jump to:

• What is Osmanthus?
• What does it taste like?
• In Chinese culture
• Why drink it? Is there caffeine?
• How do you drink it?
• Where to buy
• Storage
• How to make tea without a tea bag
• Golden Osmanthus Tea/ Gui Hua Cha Recipe

What is Osmanthus?

It is a flower known by a few different names. In Chinese, it is called 桂花. Slightly reminiscent of elderflower in looks and fragrance, osmanthus is actually related to olives, and also known as sweet osmanthus, osmanthus fragrans, sweet olive, tea olive and fragrant olive. Originally from China, Indochina and South Japan, the flower is a classic Chinese fragrance dating back to the Tang Dynasty, used in drinks and desserts such as osmanthus flower tea konnyaku jelly You can even use it to make a flavoured osmanthus sugar to sweeten your tea and intensify the floral bouquet of your food!

What does it taste like?

The dried golden flowers have a very strong fragrance, that is similar to a very ripe peach or apricot. The flavour when ingested, in contrast, is quite delicate and floral. It obviously tastes good to Chinese people, having been part of the cuisine for some long, but may be an acquired taste for those not used to floral flavours/ the more delicate Asian dessert tastes.

In Chinese culture

Osmanthus blooms from late summer to autumn, and thus has strong associations with the Chinese Harvest Festival: Mid-Autumn Festival, which falls on the 15th day of the 8th month in the lunar calendar. The flower is so entrenched in Chinese culture that it is even part of a Chinese idiom 吳剛伐桂 (wu gang dai gui), which symbolises endless toil as it references the Chinese myth in which a man, Wu Gang, is made to chop down a regenerating osmanthus tree on the Moon. Sort of like a Chinese Sisyphus. There are a few versions of the story, so I won't bore you but if you're interested, you can check out wikipedia.

And of course, we have Mid-Autumn recipes which feature Osmanthus as well, such as tang yuan!

Why drink it? Is there caffeine?

Osmanthus tea and cake were popular even with the Chinese royalty, as the flower is believed to be very good for you (according to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).) Some parts of TCM can be a bit controversial so I only include it in my posts when I can refer to authoritative sources, in this case, the local Singaporean Newspaper) Some of the benefits of pure golden osmanthus flower tea include:

1. It is believed to be "warming" in nature, nourishing your lungs and thus skin. (TCM divides food into "warming" and "cooling" foods. Other warming foods include this ginger and dried longan tea.) If you're wondering what the lungs have to do with the skin, basically good lungs means lots of oxygen circulating in your body and thus beautiful skin!
2. There is some research to support this link between osmanthus and the lungs. Research has shown that osmanthus fragrans flowers (the scientific name) has lots of phenols and flavonoids and exhibits anti-oxidant activity. Specifically, the research also confirms that it reduces phlegm and may be useful as an anti-allergen
3. Its' warming property means that it is good for those who feel cold easily, or those who have irregular periods.
4. It's also supposed to be good for detoxing
5. In its pure form, osmanthus tea is caffeine-free, so it won't interfere with your beauty sleep! (Some people do mix it with other tea leaves, in which case the choice of secondary tea leaves would determine whether the final tea is caffeinated or not.) If, like me, you're a tea addict with sleep issues, other caffeine-free teas that you can drink include suanmeitang, Korean plum tea, barley tea (boricha) and longan tea.

Note: this is just for your information and is not meant as medical, dietary or health advice, which I'm not qualified to give! Please check with the appropriate professionals if you have any questions or concerns about the benefits of osmanthus.

How do you drink it?

You can drink osmanthus tea in several ways:

• on its own (i.e. pure, with only water + dried osmanthus flowers. If you like it sweet, maybe add a little honey as the floral tea can be a bit bitter when concentrated)
• mixed with other tea leaves, such as:
  • osmanthus oolong tea
  • osmanthus chrysanthemum tea (caffeine-free)
  • osmanthus rose tea (caffeine-free)
  • osmanthus sencha/ osmanthus green tea
  • osmanthus pu-erh tea
  • osmanthus dragon well tea

• There are even milk tea and bubble tea versions out there now!

Check the recipe card below to see the suggested ratio of tea leaves to water.

Note: A shortcut to making a sweetened version is to add hot water to osmanthus syrup (which is basically the dried flowers + honey)

Where to buy

In countries like Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Taiwan and China, they are stocked in many supermarkets, Chinese pharmacies, wet markets etc (and online, of course). However, even in a country with as large a Chinese population as Singapore, it is still considered a bit of a speciality product, so it may be out of stock in the more generic stores, like grocers. Chinese medicine stores are your best bet as they usually keep ready stock as well as bring in better quality osmanthus flowers. (These will have fewer impurities such as branches amongst the Dried Golden Osmanthus Blossoms) If not, you can always find them online!

Note: You may think that they're all the same, but they're not! When my friend made osmanthus jelly using dried flowers she'd bought from a neighbourhood shop, she said they didn't taste as good as mine, which was made with osmanthus made from a TCM shop, even though we used the same super easy osmanthus jelly recipe!

Storage

These golden flowers get moist easily so make sure to keep them in an air-tight container. Maybe toss in 1 of the dehumidifying food-grade packs if you can. It's generally recommended to use any osmanthus tea you have within 1 year but I confess I don't always do that. (Best before dates are guides not hard and fast rules, after all.) Do toss it out if you notice it's moist or if you see any mold!

How to make tea without a tea bag

Traditionally, osmanthus comes loose as dried golden flowers, and not in a tea bag. Some upmarket tea companies are starting to sell it in tea bag form but I avoid those as they're not only more expensive, it's also bad for the environment.

The golden blossoms are so pretty floating in the water that if I'm making pure osmanthus tea, I usually just add hot water directly to the dried flowers. However, if the flowers are mixed with green or black tea leaves, you can use a tea strainer (shown above) to sift out the thick leaves, then add a couple of golden flowers back to the cup for visual effect!

What are some of your favourite tea flavours? Don't forget to tag me on social media (@greedygirlgourmet) if you try this recipe. Let me know if you prefer the Pure Golden Osmanthus tea/ Gui Hua flower tea, the sweet tea with honey, or the Oolong/ green tea loose leaf blends!