Your favourite Jasmine? Where to from here?

Non-oxidized tea
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Kelly
Posts: 11
Joined: Mon Jun 04, 2018 1:15 pm

Mon Jun 04, 2018 1:55 pm

Hello all. I've started a serious tea hobby over the past 6 months due to discovering Jasmine pearls at a local tea shop and exploring from there. I checked local Chinese shops and found smaller, expensive zip bags which were nice, but very pricey and not always fresh. I moved on-line and tried to start with 'cheap' ones and ended up wasting the money. I've since discovered several very good quality brands and am beginning to develop my brewing skills and develop opinions on which I like best and why. I now own and prefer a Gaiwan and small cups, I enjoy the control over the intensity of the steep and riding the arc of flavors the tea can produce over a period of time.

In my experience thus far I have found an interesting variety of flavors and aromas all from "Jasmine" green tea so I wanted to learn from others opinions as well. I've also just taken an order of some 2018 non-Jasmine greens to see where I might branch out my hobby into new flavor destinations - I'd love to hear where you found another way to connect to tea after Jasmine!

First - my favorites and why:

Teavivre Award winning superfine Downy Jasmine dragon pearls. My first scent of Jasmine pearls months before discovering these sent me to bliss and I knew I needed to try this tea. When I received my first bag of these downy pearls, cutting it open almost knocked me over - like fresh flowers right under my nose, the most aromatic I've found so far. The taste of the tea itself is delicate, yet present and nicely balanced, but the Jasmine is so intense and wonderful. This is a true aromatherapy tea, I have enjoyed inhaling the liquid as much as drinking it. These pearls are also the ones I've achieved the most full flavor steeps from and the only ones I don't oversteep for the reason it's actually possible to have too much Jasmine. Another bonus is I can brew these at 185F so they open more fully and they've never shown a hint of bitterness. 10/10 - so far!

Teavivre Award winning premium Jasmine Pearls. I received these as a sample with the Downy type and these are 'normal sized' where the downy pearls are actually quite small. They have the same rich, fresh Jasmine fragrance and balanced taste and there isn't much between them. I think I may have been able to get an extra steep from the downy type based on the sample I received, but these would make a excellent go-to as well.

There are several varieties I've tried that would suffice to satisfy my Jasmine cravings after the Teavivre, but none are it's equal. Tea-Ren King's Grade Jasmine Pearls where very good, but very expensive (note, their Imperial dragon pearls that I also tried where good, but less aromatic). David's Tea Jasmine Dragon Pearls were where it began for me and are also quite good. Being that these were my first experience with loose leaf green tea, I was able to make them bitter a few times before I ironed out my skills. Tealyra is another on-line site with decent pricing and their Imperial Jasmine Pearls stay at my office as a back-up in case I forget my Teavivre pearls or crave beyond one batch of pearls in a day. They are less aromatic than the Teavivre (but everything is so far) and get less steeps, but they are still very tasty with a nice aroma coming off the tea.

Honorable mention goes to Yunnan Sourcing Imperial Jasmine Pearls for having the most unique I've tried so far. The initial aroma is a bit more laid back than the Teavivre, but is notably fruity. It is unlike any other Jasmine I've smelled so far. The aroma doesn't really carry into the brewed tea I've found, but rather sits in the backseat to the tea itself, which has a little more body than other pearls I've tried. Still a bright yellow soup, but more tea taste with a Jasmine hint. Still very nice, I'll keep these in rotation as a way to change the backdrop on the usual. Note, I brew these at recommended temperatures as brewing hotter as I've tried successfully with other pearls made these a bit bitter.

I've just recently ordered a Honey Orchid Oolong and look forward to seeing if there are other ways to love tea as much as I love Jasmine. What are your experiences?
Janice
Posts: 262
Joined: Tue Oct 10, 2017 11:11 pm
Location: New Jersey

Mon Jun 11, 2018 4:18 pm

I began my tea journey with jasmine tea. Since then I’ve discovered Japanese greens and yancha but I’ve never lost my love of a good jasmine tea. Teatrekker has some interesting information about the making of jasmine tea.

https://teatrekker.com/product/jasmine-dragon-pearls-2/

I also like their jasmine silver needles.

Edited to correct link.
Last edited by Janice on Wed Jun 13, 2018 3:54 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Kelly
Posts: 11
Joined: Mon Jun 04, 2018 1:15 pm

Wed Jun 13, 2018 3:09 pm

Hi Janice - thanks for sharing. I'd not been to TeaTrekker before and in my infinite curiousity, it seems I'll want to give their Jasmines a try. FWIW, in my last order from Teavivre, I did receive some Oolongs and found them quite different from my usual and from each other. One is more roasty with a light sweetness which is quite nice - but not an everyday for me. The other was an expensive high mountain Taiwanese which was very light and vegetal. I could see how some would be impressed, but it was not something that appealed to me. Too much like spinach and not enough like 'heaven' (Jasmine :) ). I also tried some additional Snail shell and 'Daughter's Ring' Jasmine teas, but found they were a bit sharper than I prefer even after careful brewing.

A friend who lives in Japan came to visit and brought a Sayama green from his prefecture for me. I've yet to brew it, but it smells quite vegetal, I hope I like it.

The link you provided appears to be for a bathroom fixture - perhaps you were considering some home reno's over a cuppa?


K
Janice
Posts: 262
Joined: Tue Oct 10, 2017 11:11 pm
Location: New Jersey

Wed Jun 13, 2018 3:52 pm

This is the link I intended to post, mainly for the information about production of traditional style jasmine tea.

https://teatrekker.com/product/jasmine-dragon-pearls-2/

I’ve corrected the original link so people may find your post odd. And I’ve located much more attractive grab bars.
GrouchoM
Posts: 13
Joined: Sat Oct 21, 2017 11:32 pm

Sun Jan 27, 2019 10:06 pm

I've had several types of Jasmine tea from both Tea Trekker and Teavivre. My favorite based on taste and aroma is Jasmine Silver Needle White Tea (Mo Li Yin Zhen) from Teavivre. Based on looks, 28th the Dragon Pearl or Mo Li Yin Zhen from Tea Trekker.
TeaZero
Posts: 57
Joined: Thu Apr 05, 2018 12:44 pm

Tue Jan 29, 2019 10:33 am

I'm big fan of the Jasmine green tea buds from Teasenz:
https://www.teasenz.com/jasmine-green-tea
Not a kind of jasmine tea with a fancy pearl shape, but it's superfine and delicate.
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wave_code
Posts: 575
Joined: Wed Nov 21, 2018 2:10 pm
Location: Germany

Tue Jan 29, 2019 3:25 pm

I have a bag of silver needles jasmine from Yunnan Sourcing I should go back to before it gets way too old. Last time I tried it I found it so flowery and overpowering it was like drinking perfume and it kinda put me off any more jasmine tea for a long while. Maybe I was making it too strong though and need to give it another chance.

I don't drink much green these days, and when I do its usually sencha, so that also knocks out most jasmine teas for me. I meant to order and try out the china tea jasmine liu pao in my last order from Chawang, but forgot to add a couple of packs. anyone tried it? even after my liquid perfume experience I'm intrigued- the strong earthy and soil notes of liu bao combined with jasmine, if done right, seems really appealing. more like smelling/tasting the whole garden/plant rather than just the flower itself.
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