This was my most recent sipdown. I finished the last of a 50g pouch of these flowers earlier in the day. I absolutely loved the snow chrysanthemum buds offered by Yunnan Sourcing, and fortunately, the flowers did not disappoint either. Naturally, they were very similar to the buds in terms of aroma and flavor, though I found them to be a bit gentler and smoother overall.
I prepared my snow chrysanthemum flowers gongfu style. After a rinse, I steeped 6 grams of dried flowers in 4 ounces of 212 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was followed by 20 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, 9 minutes, 12 minutes, 16 minutes, and 20 minutes.
Prior to the rinse, the dried blossoms produced intense aromas of chrysanthemum, dill, pickle brine, and bitter orange. After the rinse, I noted hints of black pepper on the nose. The first infusion introduced a subtle ginger scent. In the mouth, I found pungent chrysanthemum notes on the entry that gave way to notes of pickle brine and dill before vegetal notes reminiscent of green bell pepper and hints of bitter orange took over on the swallow. The subsequent infusions introduced a tangerine aroma. Notes of black pepper and ginger emerged in the mouth, and new impressions of minerals, caramel, tangerine, and grass also made themselves known. The later infusions offered soft mineral and snow chrysanthemum notes that were balanced by subtler impressions of citrus, ginger, dill, pickle brine, and green bell pepper.
Much like the aforementioned snow chrysanthemum buds, these little flowers were seemingly inexhaustible. I just reached a point where I could not go on with the review session and stopped there. As mentioned above, these flowers were smoother and gentler than the buds, so if the snow chrysanthemum buds were a little too pungent and herbal for you, I could see these snow chrysanthemum blossoms being more up your alley.
Flavors: Black Pepper, Caramel, Citrus, Dill, Floral, Ginger, Grass, Green Bell Peppers, Mineral, Orange
