花茶 Origin — Dong Chinese Dictionary

huāchá

scented tea

huā, hua flower

Phonosemantic compound. 艹 represents the meaning and 化 represents the sound.

艹 Meaning component

cao, cǎo grass

艹 is a component form of 艸.

化 Sound component

huà change

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	xwae	qʷʰˤra	flower (n.)

Phonosemantic compound. 艹 represents the meaning and 余 represents the sound.

艹 Meaning component

cao, cǎo grass

艹 is a component form of 艸.

余 Sound component

yú I

Change in sound

茶 and 余 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
茶 *lˤra
余 *la

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	drae	lˤra	(name of a plant)