Lotus in Tay Ho area has large petals and a pleasant scent (Photo: VNA)

Since the feudal regime, the locals learned how to scent tea with lotus which was a valuable offering to kings and mandarins. Today, lotus tea is a specialty of Hanoi for guests (Photo: VNA)

The process of making lotus tea is very complicated. Previously, people used to row a small boat out across lotus ponds to leave a pinch of dried tea inside each lotus flower that had just begun to open before dawn during sunny days (Photo: VNA)

They will pick the lotus flowers to retrieve their tea the next morning after the tea absorbs the lotus’s scent (Photo: VNA)

Separating lotus anthers for scenting tea (Photo: VNA)

A layer of tea and a thin layer of lotus anthers are staggered and then wrapped in moisture-proof paper in order to keep both the flavours of the tea and the lotus anthers (Photo: VNA)

After three days, the mixture of tea and lotus anthers is separated and the process is repeated seven times. A batch of lotus tea is completed after 20 days (Photo: VNA)