The Northern Highlands of Vietnam's Hà Giang Province is a tea cultivation region famous for its Shan Tea, grown at high elevations of about 1,500–1,700 meters in the Tây Côn Lĩnh mountain range. This region is the cradle of Northern Vietnam's ancient tea cultivation history. The biodiverse tea forests of Hà Giang are living museums—vestiges of the country’s centuries-old tea heritage.

This year, we selected both green and black teas from this region to scent with lotus flowers. These teas are all handmade by generational tea artisans. The base teas were harvested from forest-grown Indigenous Shan Tuyết tea trees unique to Vietnam. These trees are over 200 years old, established from ancient heirloom seeds.

The special black teas of this high mountain region offer a deep taste with refined layers and vigorous energy that pairs beautifully with flower scenting. Vietnam’s tea tradition celebrates the marriage of flowers and tea leaves in a refined expression of culinary artistry and natural, edible perfumery.

Some of the most unique and aromatic flower-scented teas in the world are crafted in Vietnam, using a wide variety of fragrant blossoms. The most popular flowers for tea scenting include pomelo, lotus, jasmine, aglaia and chloranthus.

The Bach Diep Lotus is the undisputed king of lotus varieties in Vietnam, revered for centuries as the absolute pinnacle of floral tea-scenting ingredients. In traditional Vietnamese tea culture and Eastern medicine, Bach Diep Lotus represents the ultimate expression of elegance, purity and artisan mastery.

The flower-scenting technique involves an extremely laborious, multi-stage process. Flowers are harvested before dawn while the buds remain sealed to preserve the volatile essential oils. The lotus stamens (gao sen) are meticulously separated and layered with the tea for 5 to 7 rounds of scenting. This consumes up to 1,000 to 1,400 fresh lotus blossoms per single kilogram of finished premium lotus tea.

Lotus Black Tea offers a regal and elegant infusion. It carries a beautiful floral bouquet with complex layers of floral nectar, resinous woodsy notes and sweet confectionery undertones. The sweet lotus flower aroma perfectly complements the tannins of Shan tea, yielding a silky texture and a profound, long-lasting sweet aftertaste (hậu vị).