The process starts in the early morning.

Lotuses must be picked before sunrise. The scenting process must be done quickly to maximize the freshness and lusciousness of the lotus scent.
100-petal lotuses are ideal for tea scenting.
People have to row slowly and carefully to avoid breaking the lotus.

Lotuses are selected carefully.

When the sun rises, the boat is full of lotuses.

June and July are the lotus season.

The lotus petals are removed.

This must be done quickly in a closed room to keep the lotus‘ fragrance.

The stamens are used for scenting tea.

It requires hundreds of lotuses to produce this amount of stamens.

The remaining parts of the stamens are used as ingredients for medicine production.

The scenting is repeated 5 – 7 times with one layer of tea over one layer of lotus stamens.

The tea is scented for 3 days, then dried and scented again with the stamens.

Drinking lotus scented tea is an art.