TeaChat

I took a cruise with some friends last month on Disney Cruise lines, ship- Sensation. We had an afternoon tea and I had a loose Jasmine tea that was amazing. It was incredibly floral and rich. Unfortunately I neglected to get the name of the brand of tea before the cruise was over and I was wondering if anyone knows what it might have been or if they know a Jasmine that fits the description. I have purchased several Jasmine teas recently and have been terribly disappointed with the low quality of the tea and the scent of jasmine overall. I am looking for one that is very fragrant and well infused. For me, a Jasmine tea is ALL about the jasmine. Any help would be much appreciated.

Paul

Welcome to the forum!

Jasmine Pearls are often considered the best Jasmine tea ...

http://www.adagio.com/oolong/dragon_pea ... 7fbe5f039e

Chip wrote:Jasmine Pearls are often considered the best Jasmine tea ...

http://www.adagio.com/oolong/dragon_pea ... 7fbe5f039e

I'll second that. The aroma is nothing short of heavenly, they are a favorite of mine.

There are two ways to get strong jasmine flavor: added scent, sprayed on (can be more like drinking perfume than tea); or a lot more repetitions of 'scenting' the tea with the flowers. So you find very strong jasmine flavor in both very cheap teas made with poor quality teas and not cheap teas, made with good quality tea and traditionally scented. If you're at all interested in the tea, you want a nice tea traditionally scented, because the strong cheap stuff is like drinking perfume. Some of the strong traditionally scented stuff is still too strong for my taste.

I am confused by this jasmine tea listing on the Adagio web site, however, which claims that 'jasmine teas are technically oolongs': I have seen jasmine white teas, jasmine green teas, and jasmine oolongs, and the green jasmines (the only ones I've had much experience with) all brew up like green teas--sweet and mellow at cooler brewing temperatures, nasty and bitter when overdone with boiling water. So what does it mean to say that they are "technically oolongs" ?

I think what they mean by technically oolongs, is that they have more of a medium roast processing. Because the tea is infused with the flowers over night, in the morning they must remove the flowers and "re-roast" the tea to remove the moisture left by the flowers. After doing this several times the roasting level is more consistent with an oolong.

Victoria wrote:I think what they mean by technically oolongs, is that they have more of a medium roast processing. Because the tea is infused with the flowers over night, in the morning they must remove the flowers and "re-roast" the tea to remove the moisture left by the flowers. After doing this several times the roasting level is more consistent with an oolong.

Alternatively, some references call this base pouchong, so if you're looking for a green base that's also to be avoided. I prefer the jasmine with a true green or white base and have found that some vendors, such as the Imperial Tea Court, sell pearls with a true green base. I don't know if it's a quality issue, but I do know that for me it's a taste preference.

JRS22 wrote:

Victoria wrote:I think what they mean by technically oolongs, is that they have more of a medium roast processing. Because the tea is infused with the flowers over night, in the morning they must remove the flowers and "re-roast" the tea to remove the moisture left by the flowers. After doing this several times the roasting level is more consistent with an oolong.

Alternatively, some references call this base pouchong, so if you're looking for a green base that's also to be avoided. I prefer the jasmine with a true green or white base and have found that some vendors, such as the Imperial Tea Court, sell pearls with a true green base. I don't know if it's a quality issue, but I do know that for me it's a taste preference.

Interesting. I had thought that it was just an up in the air nomenclature thing ... so said Upton several years back when I was trying to figure this issue out. According to them, that since the tea would go through some oxidation as part of the scenting process, they were more pouchong ... aka green oolong.

One vendor seemed to say one thing, another would say another. But it would be good to know there are also true white and green versions.

Chip wrote:Interesting. I had thought that it was just an up in the air nomenclature thing ... so said Upton several years back when I was trying to figure this issue out. According to them, that since the tea would go through some oxidation as part of the scenting process, they were more pouchong ... aka green oolong.

One vendor seemed to say one thing, another would say another. But it would be good to know there are also true white and green versions.

Probaby pouchong and green oolong are synonyms. Two years ago Imperial Tea Court had a large selection of different Jasmines so I ordered small packages of 5 different varieties to try. I suppose it was my first tea tasting experiment. My favorites were their best pearls, and the silver needle jasmine. Some vendors have their 2010 harvest but ITC is still selling 2009. I've learned my lesson - this time if I love the sample I'll buy enough to last until the next harvest.

Paulie1972 wrote:I took a cruise with some friends last month on Disney Cruise lines, ship- Sensation. We had an afternoon tea and I had a loose Jasmine tea that was amazing. It was incredibly floral and rich. Unfortunately I neglected to get the name of the brand of tea before the cruise was over and I was wondering if anyone knows what it might have been or if they know a Jasmine that fits the description. I have purchased several Jasmine teas recently and have been terribly disappointed with the low quality of the tea and the scent of jasmine overall. I am looking for one that is very fragrant and well infused. For me, a Jasmine tea is ALL about the jasmine. Any help would be much appreciated.

Paul

I have tried jasmine pearl tea from about 8 vendors and these 3 are my current favorites:

Canton Tea based out of London:
Their Jasmine Pearl has won a best tasting award for a couple of years and the tea has a wonderful floral taste with a nice but not overpowering fragance of jasmine. Right now until the end of September if one orders one of their award winning teas they will get 20% off their order and free shipping.
Jing Tea based out of London:
Their Jasmine Pearls is quite good with a smooth taste and a nice even scent from the tea.

Imperial Tea based out San Francisco: Their Jasmine Pearl is lovely as well, the taste fresh and a lovely scent.

Although pricey, Adagios Jasmine Pearls in the Masters collection is really quite exceptional. And since the time of this OP, I have tried the Red Blossom Dragon Oolong Jasmine, with is made with a "light Anxi oolong tea as its base", it seems better and better to me each time I brew it.

You can't go wrong with Jing Tea UK. After watching their video, I'm impressed. It's all in the natural infusing. As others have said, anything sprayed on is going to taste nasty and perfumey.

Does anyone have any recommendations for companies in the U.S. (other than Adagio and Imperial Tea, both of which I've tried) that sell great Jasmine pearl tea?

Infusion wrote:Does anyone have any recommendations for companies in the U.S. (other than Adagio and Imperial Tea, both of which I've tried) that sell great Jasmine pearl tea?

So far this year my favorite is Seven Cups - while it's pricey it retains some jasmine flavor through many, many steeps - 6 or 7 the last time I brewed it, and it has a good quality green tea base. It's very different from Adagio's - it's definitely green, whereas Adagio pearls are pouchong - oolong.

The type of base is a matter of taste - I just happen to prefer green tea.

JRS22 wrote:

Infusion wrote:Does anyone have any recommendations for companies in the U.S. (other than Adagio and Imperial Tea, both of which I've tried) that sell great Jasmine pearl tea?

So far this year my favorite is Seven Cups - while it's pricey it retains some jasmine flavor through many, many steeps - 6 or 7 the last time I brewed it, and it has a good quality green tea base. It's very different from Adagio's - it's definitely green, whereas Adagio pearls are pouchong - oolong.

The type of base is a matter of taste - I just happen to prefer green tea.

I prefer green tea base as well. Thanks for your recommendation, I will add it to my list of teas I plan to order next.

Infusion wrote:I prefer green tea base as well. Thanks for your recommendation, I will add it to my list of teas I plan to order next.

I might have an update on my favorite jasmine soon - I ordered a small gaiwan from the Tea Gallery and while I was at it added a package of their Jasmine - not pearl shaped but ovoid.

Upton tea's te ji (dragon phoenix) jasmine pearl isn't bad. They offer cheaper sample sizes too so you could try it out without spending too much.



Edit: didnt like upton's after i tried jkteashop's...now THAT one is smooth and floral throughout 12 steeps