{
    "id": 1070286,
    "title": "Orange blossom tea: flowers, blossom water and flavouring",
    "slug": "orange-blossom-tea",
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    "url": "https://teas.co.uk/wiki/orange-blossom-tea/",
    "modified": "2026-09-18T00:45:35+01:00",
    "excerpt": "Orange blossom comes as dried flowers, distilled blossom water or a flavouring. What each one does in a cup, and how much to use before it tastes of soap.",
    "content_text": "Orange blossom is the white flower of the bitter orange tree \u2014 the same blossom perfumers call neroli. Its smell is heady, sweet and slightly citrus, and it appears in tea in three quite different forms.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nForm\r\nWhat it is\r\nHow to use it\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nDried orange blossom\r\nWhole dried flowers, infused like any herb\r\n1 teaspoon per 250ml, 90\u00b0C, 4 minutes\r\n\r\n\r\nOrange blossom water\r\nA distilled water, used in Middle Eastern and North African cooking\r\nA few drops in a whole pot, added at the end\r\n\r\n\r\nOrange blossom flavouring\r\nA flavouring in a blended tea\r\nNothing to add; it is already in the bag\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nDried flowers\r\nThe gentlest version. A teaspoon of dried blossom makes a pale, honeyed, caffeine-free infusion, and it takes well to a spoon of honey. It is also good mixed half and half with green tea or with mint.\r\nBuy flowers sold for drinking. Orange blossom is a perfumery crop as well as a food one, so check the pack is food grade rather than craft or cosmetic material.\r\nOrange blossom water: a seasoning, not an ingredient\r\nThis is where people come unstuck. Orange blossom water is distilled and concentrated: a teaspoon in a mug tastes like soap. Used properly, it is wonderful.\r\n\r\nStart with 2 or 3 drops in a whole teapot, stirred in after brewing.\r\nAdd it off the heat. Boiling drives the aroma off.\r\nIt suits mint tea, green tea and black tea with honey \u2014 a common touch in Moroccan and Levantine kitchens.\r\nTaste before adding more. You cannot take it out.\r\n\r\nThe same rule applies in the kitchen: a few drops in a fruit salad, a rice pudding or a syrup for baklava.\r\nFlavoured blends\r\nPlenty of blends carry orange blossom as a flavouring, sometimes with real citrus peel. Read the ingredient list to see which you are buying, and check the base if caffeine matters \u2014 an orange blossom green tea contains caffeine, a flower-only infusion does not. See what natural flavouring means.\r\nPairings worth trying\r\n\r\nMint and orange blossom: two or three drops of blossom water in a pot of fresh mint tea.\r\nGreen tea and blossom: a light Chinese green with a teaspoon of dried flowers.\r\nBlack tea, honey and blossom: an afternoon pot, no milk.\r\nIced: brew, cool, add a drop of blossom water and a slice of orange.\r\n\r\nOur floral tea guide covers the other flowers, and citrus tea covers peel and juice.\r\nCommon questions\r\nIs orange blossom tea the same as orange tea?\r\nNo. Orange tea is made from the fruit or peel; orange blossom is the flower, and it smells floral rather than fruity.\r\nDoes it contain caffeine?\r\nFlowers alone, no. Blends with tea leaves, yes.\r\nWhy does mine taste like perfume?\r\nToo much blossom water, or too many flowers. Halve it.\r\nCan I use orange blossom essential oil instead?\r\nNo. Essential oils are not a food ingredient in this sense. Use culinary orange blossom water.",
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