White Champaca: A Rare Scent in Tea

A Symbol of Joy and Light

White Champaca is revered across Hindu and Buddhist traditions as a symbol of joy, love and light. Its blooms appear in festival garlands, sacred offerings and works of art throughout India, Thailand, Vietnam and other parts of Southeast Asia.

Medicine for the Senses

In Chinese herbal practice, fragrant flowers and other aromatic botanicals are used to awaken the senses and encourage the movement of qi, or the body’s vital life energy.

Magnolia flowers in particular are valued for their warming, aromatic qualities and are often consumed as herbal teas or decoctions to alleviate sinus congestion and support respiratory health.

Potent by Nature

White Champaca’s potent fragrance is a result of its thick, succulent petals, which serve as natural reservoirs for essential oils. The aroma itself is deep and enveloping, with a richness that stands apart from flowers with more delicate scents, such as jasmine or rose. This makes White Champaca a treasured material in the tea perfumer’s palette.

For Every Flower, There’s a Tea

When flower-scenting tea, the base tea is just as important as the flower you pair with. For our new Champaca Red Tea, we chose Snow Shan Red, a rare and cherished tea harvested from wild-growing trees of the indigenous Shan Tuyet variety in Vietnam’s Hà Giang province. These trees are over 150 years old, established from seed and cultivated at elevations between 1,500 and 1,700 meters in the Tây Côn Lĩnh mountain range, one of Northern Vietnam’s most ancient tea-growing regions.

Snow Shan Red is smooth, sweet and complex—a natural match for White Champaca’s creamy, honeyed character. The slightly spicy and vanilla cream undertone of the flower’s essential oil mellows the astringency of strong tea, creating a harmonious and sophisticated flavor profile.

Aromatherapy You Can Taste

Champaca Red Tea is, in every sense, a rare find—a cup that invites you to slow down and savor the healing, mood-lifting energy of nature.

The Art of White Champaca Scented Tea

Crafting White Champaca tea requires planning, precise timing and patience, beginning well before the tea leaves and flowers ever meet. First, the flowers must be picked when just on the verge of opening, as this is when their essential oil concentration crescendos. The moment they are ready, the petals are layered with dried tea leaves over several nights, allowing the tea to fully absorb their heady fragrance.

After the flowers imbue their aroma into the tea, they are sorted out and the tea is re-dried to remove any leftover moisture from the flowers. This final step is crucial to preserving the quality of the tea.

Because White Champaca’s scent is so potent, the flowers must be used in precise quantities to strike a balance with the natural flavor of the tea. If too many flowers are used or if the scenting process goes on for too long, it can result in an overpowering, less harmonious cup. This is why we work with a flower-scenting master who is recognized as one of the top traditional tea artisans in all of Vietnam.