If Hoi An is famous for Mot tea, chrysanthemum tea is an indispensable typical drink of Hai Phong people. It is difficult to know exactly when this popular drink was present in Hai Phong, but for a long time, Chrysanthemum tea has become a specialty of everyone, even more popular than coffee.
Hai Phong people often use white chrysanthemums or yellow chrysanthemums, small flowers blooming at the beginning of autumn. After harvested, chrysanthemums are removed from dust before dried; then stirred again on small fire. Chrysanthemums must be washed and drained before being boiled with red apple, licorice, rock sugar, or honey. These ingredients are carefully selected for a good quality drink.
Delicious chrysanthemum tea turns dark yellow with mild aroma. A proper cup of chrysanthemum tea must have five flavors: Bitter, sweet but ethereal taste of chrysanthemum flower; the aroma of herbs, the mild acrid taste of tea, the sour taste of kumquat, and the sweet taste of honey. All these ingredients blend and melt at the tip of the tongue. Right after drinking tea, people can feel a slight bitterness, but the more they drink, the sweeter tea becomes, and the more they drink, the more moreish the tea becomes.
Delicious chrysanthemum tea is dark brown topped with a few slices of red apple
Chrysanthemum tea is an elegant, nutritious drink that helps to relax, cool down, and sleep well. According to oriental medicine, chrysanthemum has a sweet and slightly bitter taste, cool characteristic, and has the effect of clearing heat, detoxifying, cold and fever treating, cooling livers, and brightening eyes. In addition, chrysanthemum is also very good for people with high blood pressure or symptoms of insomnia, irritability, mental stress, short temper and concentration difficulties. Therefore, drinking chrysanthemum tea regularly is also considered as a natural medicine to treat many diseases of the body.
Chrysanthemum tea is delicious no matter hot or served with ice. In the summer, under red flamboyant flowers, in the tinkling harmony of the cicadas, the city people still have the habit of rewarding themselves with a cup of cool chrysanthemum tea, a plate of ambarella with salt, and chili with friends and endless stories however busy they are.
Summer chrysanthemum tea can't be without a plate of ambarella with salt and chili
In the early days of winter, people choose to drink hot chrysanthemum tea to inhale the warm flavor from a smoky cup of tea served with dishes of hot roasted fleshy and sweet chestnuts. In the evening, the crowded "Chrysanthemum Tea Street" has no emty seats because everyone wants to find a nice place to enjoy tea, watch the streets and feel the dry cold weather when the winter comes.
Chestnut and chrysanthemum tea - a delicacy of Hai Phong winter
There are many streets in Hai Phong selling Chrysanthemum Tea: Phan Boi Chau, Minh Khai, Dinh Tien Hoang ... Chrysanthemum tea is not merely a drink but also a good reason for gatherings... Chrysanthemum tea shop is a rendezvous for many Hai Phong people who go far away every time they come back home, meet old friends and enjoy a familiar gift of Hai Phong people.
A corner of Chrysanthemum tea on Minh Khai Street