Nguyen Thi Dan has made lotus tea in Hanoi's Tay Ho District for 70 years. In order to make a kilo of good lotus tea, she plucks the flowers that are about to blossom and separates the petals, stamen and pistil. The stamen and pistil are then mixed with a special tea from Thai Nguyen Province.

A kilo of tea needs 200 grams of stamen and pistil or about 1,000 lotus flowers. The mixture goes through a special marinating process before being dried and marinated again for seven times in order to let the lotus scent and taste soak into the tea. This long process is probably why West Lake lotus tea is one of the most expensive teas in Vietnam. A kilo of West Lake lotus tea is sold for VND10m (USD400).    

Dan said she only made five to six kilos each year because of the delicate process. 

"Each lotus tea makers have their own secrets and process. My tea is completely handmade and we don't use any additional ingredients. We have regular customers who have been using our tea for years," she said.

In recent years, the tea makers have used whole lotus flowers to make a type of tea called tra xoi. The dried tea leaves are put into the flowers which are kept fresh in the water for two days and in the refrigerator for one day. Finally, they use lotus leaves to wrap around the flowers and put them into the freezer compartment.   

Tra xoi is much cheaper and is sold for VND30,000 (USD1.20) to VND50,000.

According to Dan, the tea is best made in Yixing teapots and 90-95 degree just-boiled water. "In the past, they even banned women on their period from touching the flowers, thinking that it would affect the scent," she said. "The flowers used to make teas are very clean and safe."

However, the number of lotus flowers in the West Lake are dwindling. Some people have to plant the West Lake lotus in neighbouring lakes. Dan said those flowers couldn't match the original subtle and elegant taste.

To many households in Quang An Ward, making lotus tea is a way of preserving one of Hanoi's oldest crafts.

Nguyen Thi Dan separates the lotus petals, stamen and pistil to make tea

Special lotus tea in Hanoi

Tra xoi is much cheaper

Dan Viet/Dtinews