Honeysuckle Lotus-Flower Tea

Why people make this tea

Every summer, when the lotus ponds come into bloom, you sometimes find fresh lotus buds at the flower stalls — fragrant and lovely, though they rarely open once you put them in a vase. In the old food-therapy tradition, lotus flower is valued for invigorating the blood and dispersing dampness, and it is picked while still in bud, when its qualities are considered strongest. Paired with honeysuckle, it makes a cooling, fragrant tea that many people sip through the hottest weeks to help fend off the effects of summer heat.