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Have you ever wondered what Osmanthus tea tastes like? If you’re curious about this fragrant and unique beverage, you’re in the right place. In this blog post, we’ll explore the delightful flavor profile of Osmanthus tea and uncover why it has become a popular choice among tea enthusiasts. So, let’s dive right in and answer the burning question: What does Osmanthus tea taste like?
What Does Osmanthus Tea Taste Like? Osmanthus Tea has a slightly sweet, honey flavor to it. It also has floral and slightly fruity notes to help balance out the overall taste of the tea. A slight bitter note can be detected as well.
If you are interested in trying a great example of Osmanthus tea I recommend, USTCM Osmanthus Flower Tea(*affiliate link), available on Amazon. While this tea’s popularity is growing, it has been kind of overlooked for many years in Western cultures. So what’s going on with the flavor profile? If you’re looking for other great flower herbal teas you can check out our article right here.
Looking For Your Next Favorite Tea? Check Out The Great Teas, Blends, and Herbal Infusions at the Art Of Tea. They have teas for every taste and occasion.
The Flavor Profile Of Osmanthus Tea
Osmanthus tea has a pretty complex flavor profile in my opinion. I’m going to touch on five different flavors that I detected when drinking this tea.
As I mentioned before this is the first time I’ve had this team so I drink a few cups of it just to try and get an idea of what the overall flavor profile was going to be. Let’s have a look at the five flavors that I feel are the most pronounced and important parts of this herbal infusion.
Osmanthus Tea Is A Little Sweet
One of the first flavors that you’re going to find when you take that first sip of Osmanthus Tea is that it is quite a sweet tea. Important not to confuse sugary with sweet. Oftentimes, especially in the West, when we think of sweet we think of a sugary drink like a soda or something like that.
That’s not what you going to find with osmanthus tea. It’s sweet but it’s a delicate sweetness. It’s really not one that’s going to overwhelm the flavor of the tea. For example, if you take a regular tea and dump a few tablespoons of sugar in it it doesn’t taste like tea anymore it tastes like sugar water. In the case of osmanthus tea, the slight sweetness complements the overall flavor of this herbal infusion.
A Floral Note
The next play with that you really going to taste when you begin to drink your osmanthus tea is the slightly floral flavor of the tea. This shouldn’t be a surprise since this is a flower tea, after all, you can check out some of our favorites right here.
What is surprising about the floral flavor is that it’s not as pronounced as you would expect it to be. When you smell the dried osmanthus flowers, they are very fragrant. A lot of that fragrant flower smell is lost during the steeping process for whatever reason. The floral flavors are still there but it’s much more dialed back than it is when you smell the flowers either fresh or dried.
Osmanthus Tea Is Slightly bitter
There’s a slight bitterness to osmanthus tea. certainly not overwhelming and it’s really hardly noticeable if you steep the tea properly. And this is where things can get a little dicey with the flavor profile of this tea. It seems to be very susceptible to oversteeping.
That means that you have to carefully watch your steep time in order to get a great cup of tea. For most herbal teas you can steep for 7, 10, or even 15 minutes in some cases, and the taste will be just fine. That’s not the case with osmanthus tea. I find that about 5 minutes of steep time gives you a good balance between flavor and just the slightest bit of bitterness. Go longer than that and you run the risk of having a really bitter tea which is just not very good to drink.
A Little Honey Taste
Osmanthus tea Has a slight honey flavor to it. This really Blends in with the overall sweetness of the tea. But I thought it was pronounced enough to give the sweet flavor a specific taste associated with it. And in this case, it’s a very slight honey flavor. What it really does, is balance out the slight bitterness and the kind of fruity notes. The honey flavor helps blend them together with the floral flavor of the tea and makes for an incredibly refreshing herbal infusion.
A Small Fruity Taste
One of the most delightful flavors in the entire flavor profile of osmanthus tea is the slightly fruity taste that you get when you drink it. It’s not an overwhelming fruity taste it’s certainly not a fruit tea, but it is there ever so slightly. It’s this fruit flavor mixed with the honey and slightly sweet taste of the tea that really balances the whole experience out and makes us a phenomenal tea to drink.
The specific fruit that tastes like is kind of Up For Debate. I get a kind of an apricot flavor from it. But I’ve heard it described as a pear taste and even an apple-like flavor to it. Whatever you decide to taste like it’s definitely something that adds a great deal to this Flower herbal infusion.
The Aroma Of Osmanthus Tea
Osmanthus Tea Has a fragrant floral smell to it. It’s a very natural Aroma. There’s a slight sweetness to it that also comes through when you drink the tea. The interesting part is the smell of the tea and the taste of the tea are somewhat less than the flowers. Whether those flowers are dried or fresh the fragrances diminish once you steep them and make infusions out of them, In my opinion.
The Flower Behind The Tea
Speaking of the osmanthus flower, it has an incredibly floral smell to it. It is pungent and it is rich. You might find yourself opening the bag and just breathing in the Fantastic smell of this wonderful Little Flower because it is so delightful.
Osmanthus is often called sweet olive because it is part of the olive family of plants. The flowers grow in small clusters on an evergreen shrub. Osmanthus is native to China and parts of Asia(source).
Related Questions
Does Osmanthus Pair Well With Other Teas? Osmanthus is a great herbal tea to blend into other teas. The relatively mild flavor doesn’t overpower the other tea. Osmanthus Oolong tea is among the most popular blends.
Does osmanthus tea have caffeine? Osmanthus Tea is Caffeine Free. It is an herbal infusion and is not produced using tea leaves. Mixing it with real teals will bring caffeine into the mix, however.
Is Osmanthus edible? The flowers are very much edible. They are used in a variety of dishes. Some popular ways to use osmanthus are making syrup and flavoring other types of dishes.
Wrapping Up The Osmanthus Tea Flavor Profile
And so we come to the end of another flavor profile of another fantastic herbal infusion. I have to say that this tea really surprised me. I didn’t have a whole lot of hopes for this tea. I’ve read a little bit about it but it’s not an overly popular tea. However, it should be much more popular than it is just based on how great it is to drink.
It just goes to show you that you can find these hidden gems all over the place. Maybe this tea isn’t something you haven’t heard of before. Maybe it’s something you have her at all but it’s just not on your radar at the moment.
However, I urge you to give it a try and to try other less popular teas both infusions and maybe just maybe you’ll find something that you absolutely love and you can add it to your tea repertoire.
Thanks for visiting and, as always, have a wonderful day.