at nicole's house on the weekend, i was served blooming tea. these crazy teas are hand sewn (so vendors say) into compact balls of different shapes which 'bloom' in water. the leaves flavor your drink while turning into a sea anemone at the bottom of your glass/tea pot. one ball gives about 7 cups of tea. we tried jasmine and lily flavors. tasty and cool looking/creepy.

i tried to find more information - they show up under all kinds of names - display teas, artisian flower balls, flower burst tea, and 1000 day flower tea. ambrosia teas has the best selection i could find, though adagio and tenren are about a dollar each. best bet is probably chinatown though (always).

my guess is, it's the next bubble tea craze. it's not on wikipedia yet, but it's already on flickr (more). glass and acrylic tea pots will sell tons. asian people love stuff in their water.