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"I have spent many an hour in Viet Nam making Lotus tea in the old traditional way. It is
'woman's work' as my Mother's generation would say. We would ask some other women friends over and,
after dinner and after the washing up is done, we would gather the big baskets of freshly made green
tea and start talking and working. We would take a Lotus flower bud and, very, very carefully peel
back the petals without a single rip or tear until we would put about 2 grams of the fresh green
tea inside, then carefully take back up the petals until the bud is as it was before filling it with
tea. After all the buds are full and rewoven we would put them aside overnight and the next evening reverse the
process and extract the wonderful smelling Lotus tea.
"It doesn't last long so we wouldn't make more than we could use for the special occasion or
bring to the little pagoda as an offering.
"The tea that is perfumed commercially is done just as jasmine tea is -- on great floors first the
tea is spread then the flowers. It is turned and turned and left to absorb the scent."
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