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A Jasmine using the tipmost leaves of the tea bush
Jasmine teas fall into what the tea experts call “scented” teas. I just call them “flavored” teas, since items used to create the scents usually affect both aroma and flavor.
Whether you call it “flavored” or “scented,” jasmine tea has been around a long while, starting some time during the Song Dynasty in China (960-1279). The best grade is supposed to be from the Fujian Province, but versions are also available from Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, and Zhejiang provinces.
Tea leaves are harvested in Spring and stored until the jasmine flowers are in bloom in early Summer. The flowers are then picked when the petals are tightly closed (usually in the early morning) and kept cool until night when they begin to open. It is at this time that the tea leaves and those little white flowers are combined and stored overnight while the tea gets infused with the scent of the blooms, a four-hour process that may get repeated as many as seven times.
Jasmine teas come in a bunch of forms, including:
- Pearls (full leaves hand-rolled into little pearl shapes), also called “tears”
- Needles (full leaves processed into long, thin shapes)
- Blooming (full leaves and often flower petals sewn together in a “bud” that opens up as it steeps like a flower blooming)
- Full leaf (often this is the two-leaves-and-a-bud picking from the very end of the tea bush branches)
- Broken leaf (leaves from further down on the branch or that have been machine harvested and processed either by hand or machine and possibly further broken)
- Fannings (machine processed tea leaves ground to smaller pieces but larger than dust)
- Dust (machine processed tea leaves ground down really fine for easier bagging and/or steeping and usually flavored with jasmine oil instead of real blooms)
- Compressed shapes such as hearts
Jasmine with Flowers Green Tea
Black, green, white, and oolong teas are all used as the tea base, although green tea is by far the most common. Expect to pay a bit more for the better quality jasmines from vendors with a good reputation like Golden Moon, Harrisons & Crosfield, and Harney & Sons.
My favorite jasmine is dragon tears (or pearls). For one thing, it’s easy to measure out the right amount. I just count the pearls (2-3 per 8 ounces of water) and toss them in a cup of hot water, watching them unfold as they steep. Blooming jasmines are alright, but I find they are more fun to watch than to drink and can often be overly strong on the jasmine. Which brings me to another issue…
The floral aroma of jasmines can be quite overwhelming to those of us with sensitive sniffers. While I enjoy the flavor, which is often much milder than the fragrance, I have to be careful not to inhale too deeply when preparing the tea so that my nose doesn’t go into overload mode. Of course, this also means that jasmine teas need to be stored properly, that is, in air tight containers away from your other teas, or you could end up with a whole cupboard or tea pantry full of jasmines, whether you intend it or not.
Jasmine tea is said to have numerous health benefits, including:
- destroys free radicals and helps to slow aging
- lowers the risks of developing cancer
- helps keep bad cholesterol levels down
- is effective for dysentery, influenza and cholera, and in preventing colds
- stimulates the body to burn calories which encourages weight-loss
- has a calming and soothing effect
Jasmine Blooms (Photo by Maria Brzostowska from Fotolia.com)
Give jasmine tea a try and you could get a very pleasant surprise!
Disclaimer: This is not intended as medical advice. Please consult your physician for your particular needs.
See also:
Review — Jasmine with Flowers Green Tea
Jasmine Dragon Tears and Michael Williams’ “Trajan’s Arch” — Magical Realism and Real Magic
Review — Golden Moon Jasmine Pearls
Jasmine Tea Choices
The Tea Provinces of China, Part I
The Tea Provinces of China, Part II
© Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog, 2009-2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this article’s author and/or the blog’s owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
Jasmine Tea with Flowers
For some tea lovers (present company included) a cup of high-quality plain tea – be it black, green, white, yellow, oolong or puerh – is sufficient as it is and does not require any kind of adulteration or improvement. The ancient Chinese tea master Lu Yu, who was one of the first people to write about tea, did not mince words when it came to flavored teas, dismissing them in no uncertain terms as “the swill of gutters and ditches.”
That said, there are no shortage of tea fans who believe that tea can be enhanced with the addition of some kind of flavoring agent, whether it be fruits, flowers, spices or even the smoke from a pine wood fire, as in the case of the Lapsang Souchongvariety.
Jasmine tea is one of the more popular varieties of flavored tea and is one that is most commonly made from a base of one of the lighter, more delicate varieties such as green or sometimes white. Because of its subtle nature, more robust and full-flavored teas are not generally considered to be appropriate for making jasmine tea.
What gives jasmine tea its unique flavor is the jasmine flower, a distinctive and pleasantly scented bloom that only opens at night. While some lower quality jasmine varieties may use some sort of a jasmine essence as their flavoring agent, only the varieties that are made using the actual flowers are considered worthy of the name.
Jasmine flowers used to make this tea are blended in during evening hours when they have reached their aromatic peak and are left in with the tea for as much as several hours. This process may be repeated up to several times depending on the desired strength of the end product. The end result is a delicately flavored tea with a light and pleasant taste and aroma that’s not unlike a nighttime stroll through an exotic garden.
Ever sniffed a jasmine or rose tea and thought “How lovely!”, only to find the tea’s taste to be bitter and disagreeable? If so, you are not alone. I’ve been disappointed by floral-scented teas more than any other kind, and I know that I am not the only one!
Teas flavored with flowers are like the “little girl with the curl”: When they are good, they are very, very good. But when they are bad, they are horrid! Floral flavors can be temperamental, and even a properly flavored tea can taste “off” if not infused correctly.
Fortunately, there are a few tricks you can use to avoid having an unpleasant experience with a floral tea:
You Get What You Pay For: The best floral teas are those prepared with real flower blossoms or petals, as opposed to essential or flavoring oils. There is no substitute for the scent and flavor of actual Jasmine flowers or rosebuds. If the price seems too good to be true, the tea itself probably won’t be.
If you are ordering a tea via mail order, ask the merchant how the tea is scented. If in doubt, try and order a sample first. If making a purchase in person, sniff the tea: If the tea smells perfume-y or the floral scent completely overwhelms the tea, choose something else.
Watch Steep Time: This is true for all teas, of course, but even a few seconds can make the difference in floral teas, particularly those flavored with jasmine. Use a tea timer, and decant quickly!
Keep it Cool: Equally, if not more important, is to not overheat floral teas Experiment with using cooler water, and, depending on the tea, consider not putting a lid on the teapot/gaiwan to avoid “cooking” the tea while steeping.
Store Carefully: The flowers (or flavorings) in floral teas can get stale if stored improperly. Be sure to store floral teas quickly (i.e. as soon as possible after purchasing) and properly (i.e. in an airtight tin).
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© Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog, 2009-2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this article’s author and/or the blog’s owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
