Emperor's Dream is a flavoured Ceylon green leaf tea from Hyson, sold loose in a tin caddy. The green leaf is blended with marigold flowers and rose petals and given a strawberry flavouring, so the dry tea shows flecks of orange and pink among the leaves.
It brews to a pale, clear cup with a ripe strawberry aroma over the light, grassy taste of the green leaf. Drink it plain: milk would cover both the leaf and the fruit.
What is in the tin
- Tea: flavoured Ceylon green leaf tea, loose
- Ingredients (as printed on the pack): green tea, marigold flowers, rose petals, nature-identical strawberry flavouring
- Sizes: 100g (3.5 oz) tin caddy. The 200g (7.06 oz) caddy with a clip-down lid is discontinued.
- Pack: a metal tin that keeps the leaf dry between pots and can be refilled once it is empty
- Origin: packed in Sri Lanka
How to brew
Use about 2g of leaf, roughly a level teaspoon, for a 220ml cup. Let freshly boiled water cool to 70 to 80°C, pour it over the leaf, steep for 3 to 5 minutes and strain. Hotter water or a longer steep turns green tea bitter. For iced tea, brew it at double strength and pour it over ice.
Keep the tin closed and store it somewhere cool and dry, away from strong smells.
Hyson is a Sri Lankan tea brand that began in 2002; it buys its tea at the Colombo Tea Auction and sells it in more than 20 countries.
