Green Botanica · Tea Guide
Carthamus tinctorius
Dok kham foi · ดอกคำฝอย · benibana · hong hua
Safflower is one of the oldest dye plants in the world. Its flame-coloured florets once dyed cloth in ancient Egypt and lip colour in Japan. In Thailand they are dried for cha dok kham foi, a caffeine-free tea with a soft, hay-like taste and a clear golden colour.
Meet the plant
Safflower is an annual plant of the daisy family, Asteraceae, growing about half a metre to a metre tall. Its leaves, and the green bracts that hold each flower head, are edged with sharp spines, a little like a thistle.
Each flower head is a dense tuft of slender, tube-shaped florets. What is sold as “safflower petals” are these florets, pulled from the head and dried. They open yellow and turn orange and then deep red as they age; growers pick them as they turn orange to red.
Dried florets brewed as cha dok kham foi in Thailand, and as a herbal tea far beyond.
In Thailand, a short infusion of the florets colours jasmine rice a soft gold.
Used for colour from the Mediterranean to the Caucasus, as in the Azerbaijani soup piti.
Its yellow and red dyes coloured textiles for thousands of years, from Egypt to Japan.
In Japan the red pigment, beni, was made into lip colour and rouge.
Today most safflower is grown for the oil pressed from its seeds.
The story
For most of its history, safflower was valued for one thing above all: colour.
Safflower seeds were found in the tomb of Tutankhamun. In ancient Egypt the flowers gave a dye used to colour the wrappings of mummies.
According to Chinese tradition, the envoy Zhang Qian brought safflower from the lands to the west. An early name, 红蓝花 (“red indigo flower”), came from its indigo-like leaves; later it became simply 红花, hong hua.
Safflower reached Japan from China. At the later Heian court, its red was worn as rouge and lip colour.
The first record of safflower growing in Yamagata. The flowers were pressed into small cakes, benimochi, and carried down the Mogami River to Sakata and on to Kyoto.
The finest lip colour, sasa-beni, was so concentrated that it shone with a green sheen, “like a jewel beetle”.
Synthetic dyes replaced benibana. Yamagata still grows it, and in 2025 its Mogami River safflower system was proposed as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System (FAO).
In northern Thailand the florets are dried for tea and used to colour rice; an old household drink simmers them with chrysanthemum flowers. In China, hong hua is part of the traditional materia medica.
In Japan, benibana became a dye, a cosmetic and the symbol of Yamagata. Today safflower is grown worldwide, mostly for its seed oil.
From flower to pouch
A safflower plant flowers over several weeks, so the florets are not picked once but again and again, each time a flower head reaches the right colour. Then they are dried gently, because heat and light both take away their colour.
Florets are pulled from the head as they turn from orange to deep red. In Japan, pickers went out at dawn, while the dew still softened the spines.
The Thai variety Phan Thong flowers about 68 days after sowing and carries around 40 heads per plant. A hectare gives only some 50–60 kg of dried florets.
Kasetsart University describes three ways: in the air for about seven days, in the sun for three, or for about two hours in a dryer at 40 °C.
A Chinese study of eight drying methods found that high heat browns the florets and gives burnt flavours. Freeze-drying kept the colour best; in practice, drying below 60 °C is the aim.
The science of colour
Safflower holds two kinds of pigment. The yellow ones, such as hydroxysafflor yellow A, dissolve easily in water. The red one, carthamin, hardly dissolves in water at all; it needs an alkaline solution.
So hot water draws out the gold and leaves most of the red behind in the florets. A golden cup from orange-red flowers is exactly what safflower should give. It is not a sign of weak or faded florets.
Yellow and water-soluble. The main source of the tea’s golden colour.
Red; dissolves in alkali, not water. The historic red of benibana dye and lip colour.
Green, grassy aldehydes, part of the fresh, hay-like note.
A fruity ester, the same note found in ripe pears and bananas.
Fresh and slightly cooling, a clean herbal top note.
Toasted and nutty, found in every sample studied.
A short steep gives pale gold; a longer one deepens the cup to amber.
Gentle drying keeps the florets bright; high heat browns them.
The red pigment breaks down over time, so dark storage keeps the colour.
Tea & kitchen
| Ingredient | Plant and part | Colour | Flavour |
|---|---|---|---|
| Safflower | Carthamus tinctorius, florets | Gold in water | Very mild, hay-like |
| Saffron | Crocus sativus, stigmas | Golden yellow | Strong, honeyed, bitter-sweet; very costly |
| Marigold | Calendula officinalis, petals | Pale yellow | Mild, faintly bitter |
| Turmeric | Curcuma longa, rhizome | Strong yellow | Earthy, warm, slightly bitter |
Recipes
A Thai golden rice and a cool blend to start with, then notes from our own kitchen.
The Thai way, after Kasetsart University
Soak the florets in the hot water for 5 minutes, then strain. Rinse the rice, pour in the golden infusion and add water up to the 3-cup line. Cook as usual. The rice comes out a soft, even gold, with hardly any change in taste.
A golden, softly fragrant cooler
Pour the water over the florets and pandan, cover and steep for 10 minutes. Strain, let it cool and chill. Serve over ice with a slice of lemon. Pandan adds a rice-like sweetness to the mild, hay-like safflower.
Safflower’s gentle colour in new places — not Thai tradition:
Replace part of the stock with a strained safflower infusion for a soft yellow risotto.
Steep a pinch of florets in hot broth for a few minutes, then strain for a golden soup.
Use a cooled, strained infusion as the liquid in bread or fresh pasta dough.
Chill a strong brew, add lemon and a little honey, and serve over ice.
Beyond flavour
Safflower is first of all a mild tea and a colour, but it also has a long place in traditional medicine.
In Thai and Chinese tradition, safflower flowers have long been part of household and herbal remedies, and hong hua is a long-standing ingredient in Chinese materia medica. These are traditional uses, not proven treatments.
Most laboratory research looks at purified safflower pigments, such as hydroxysafflor yellow A, or at concentrated extracts. These results cannot simply be carried over to a cup of tea.
Two studies from Thailand looked at safflower tea itself:
Acta Horticulturae · 2005
Human study · clinical trial316 Thai patients with raised blood lipids, on a diet, received safflower tea, gemfibrozil tablets or no added treatment for six months. Safflower tea and gemfibrozil lowered total cholesterol and raised HDL; only gemfibrozil lowered triglycerides.
SWU R&D Journal · 2015
Human study · consumer panel448 consumers in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Khon Kaen and Songkhla tasted six Thai herbal teas, safflower among them. Colour, aroma, flavour, herbal note and aftertaste shaped their liking; how they felt after drinking mattered most for buying.
Educational product information. Not medical advice. Not recommended during pregnancy. If you take blood-thinning medication or have a bleeding disorder, speak to your doctor first. Safflower belongs to the daisy family; take care if you are sensitive to these plants.
