Trà Sen Tây Hồ (West Lake Lotus Tea)
Whole Bach Diep lotus buds from West Lake filled with Thai Nguyen bud tea, then freeze-dried so the flower keeps its shape.
West Lake Lotus Tea at a glance
West Lake Lotus Tea (Tra Sen Tay Ho) is made from bud and needle grade leaf, plucked by hand in the cooperative gardens at La Bang, Thai Nguyen province, northern Vietnam, then scented with hand-picked lotus blossom. Every TRAVINA tea is picked by hand; none of it is machine-harvested.
The dry leaf carries the blue-black sheen that marks good Thai Nguyen tea. In the cup it pours clear green gold, with the flower first, then the tea underneath on the nose; in the mouth, soft and sweet, the tea body still clearly there.
The base tea is grown to TRAVINA’s 6 Không rules; the lotus flowers come from West Lake (Tay Ho) in Hanoi and are not grown by the cooperative. That is not the same as certified organic and TRAVINA does not claim that it is. What the cooperative does hold is VietGAP (DVCL-VG-TT-24-19-68), ISO 22000:2018 for the La Bang facility (GOODVN91025.FSMS), food safety licence 14/2025/UBND-NNMT-TNg, registered planting-area code.
TRAVINA is the export brand of Tam Tra Viet Cooperative in Thai Nguyen. Ninety member households farm 40.5 hectares across Dai Tu and La Bang. Every leaf is picked by hand, and every batch is processed at the cooperative’s own facilities.
How the lotus scenting is done
How to brew West Lake Lotus Tea
Aroma is the whole point of a scented tea, so keep the water off the boil at 80-85 C and keep the steeps short. Rinse briefly, then 20-25 seconds for the first infusion. A tea scented with real flowers still carries its perfume into the third and fourth infusion; one that is merely flavoured loses it after the first.
Where West Lake Lotus Tea sits in the TRAVINA range
West Lake Lotus Tea belongs to the Flower Tea range. If you are comparing grades, the bud teas sit at the top of the ladder – see Tien Vua Needle Tea – while Premium Moc Cau Green Tea is the everyday benchmark most Vietnamese households drink. For gifting, the same leaves appear boxed in Tea Boxes and Gift Sets.
Wholesale and export
The cooperative sells in bulk as well as in retail packing. Minimum order quantity is set case by case against what the season has produced rather than by a fixed table, so tell us the volume and the packing you need. For a formal export order we can supply the VietGAP certificate, the ISO 22000:2018 certificate for the La Bang facility, the food safety licence, the registered planting-area code and a pesticide residue test report; phytosanitary certificate, certificate of origin and HS classification are prepared per shipment.
Production details and quality documents
Documents: lab report No. 4882025/KQKN dated 29 Aug 2025 (PDF) and product self-declaration No. 05/TRAVINA/2025 (PDF). Reports are issued by the Thái Nguyên Centre for Agro-Forestry-Fishery Quality Technical Services and Training (VILAS 1098). Documents are in Vietnamese.
Lab report No. 4882025/KQKN – page 1
Lab report No. 4882025/KQKN – page 2
Product self-declaration No. 05/TRAVINA/2025
Public copies with signatures masked; originals are shown to buyers on request and sent with the quotation. All tea lines: document library · Compare grades: grade sheet.
Every photograph on this page is our own — our tea, our lotus, our packaging. The tea and the workshop are in Dai Tu, Thai Nguyen; the lotus is photographed where it is bought and scented. No stock images.
Buying inside Vietnam? Domestic wholesale and reseller orders are handled by our cooperative, HTX Tâm Trà Việt, on its Vietnamese site: Trà Thái Nguyên Ướp Sen.
Benefits
- Taste: soft and sweet, the tea body still clearly there.
- Aroma: the flower first, then the tea underneath.
- Liquor: clear green gold.
- Three to four infusions from one measure of leaf.
- Picked by hand and processed by the same cooperative that farms the gardens, so every batch is traceable to a plot.
Specifications
| Product name | West Lake Lotus Tea (Tra Sen Tay Ho) |
|---|---|
| Type | Scented Vietnamese green tea |
| Grade | Scented tea on a bud or needle grade base |
| Picking standard | bud or needle grade leaf, scented with hand-picked blossom |
| Ingredients | Thai Nguyen green tea leaf and natural blossom, nothing else |
| Origin | Dai Tu and La Bang, Thai Nguyen province, northern Vietnam |
| Producer | Tam Tra Viet Cooperative (TRAVINA) |
| Production facility | La Bang facility |
| Certification | VietGAP (DVCL-VG-TT-24-19-68), ISO 22000:2018 for the La Bang facility (GOODVN91025.FSMS), food safety licence 14/2025/UBND-NNMT-TNg, registered planting-area code |
| Packing | Freeze-dried buds in a gift box with carry bag |
| Storage | Cool, dry place, away from direct sunlight and strong odours. Reseal tightly or refrigerate after opening. |
| Shelf life | As printed on each pack. |
| Wholesale | Bulk, private label and export packing available. Minimum order quantity and lead time on request. |
How to use
- Warm the pot and cups, then pour the water away.
- Use 8 to 10 g of leaf for one standard pot.
- Water at about 75 to 80 C so the flower aroma is not burnt off.
- First infusion 20 seconds, then add 10 seconds each time. Two to three infusions.
- Do not over-steep. Scented tea turns bitter faster than plain green tea.
